Pelican/These Arms are Snakes @ Oran Mor
Post-hardcore… post-metal… post-rock…?
| 11 May 2007
Post-hardcore… post-metal… post-rock? Such neo-lexical pursuits of genrefication are all rather unhelpful when it comes to describing the musical vibe that lies ahead for this double-header. Perpetuating this, These Arms are Snakes wriggle on stage for a forty-five minute set that constantly breaks free of easy singular description. From a funked-up bass hook they constantly sidewind into various other forms - rapid, punky choruses; dense, analogue-driven sound effects or punch-packing doom breakdowns. Snakes are as hard to pin down as their writhing frontman Steve Snere. The energetic performance is generally well received, but the crowd's apparent unfamiliarity with the material and style can't be breached by any connection to Snere's grating dance routine.
By contrast, Pelican man an onslaught of hopeful requests from the crowd, though, like so many other foreigners who try, guitarist Trevor de Brauw insists he can't understand the distinct Glaswegian brogue from the floor. The set begins with a trundle but picks up with the chugging heaviness of Drought. Without a vocalist to hold the attention, the almost choreographed headbanging holds the eye during the climactic distortion overspills, while the intricacy of the overlapping layered guitar passages play out effectively in the live environment. An hour-long set from the Chicago troupe includes a majority of tracks from new album City of Echoes with a smattering of the old to keep a crowd happy enough to demand, and duly receive, a deserved encore in genre acrobatics. [Jamie Borthwick]
By contrast, Pelican man an onslaught of hopeful requests from the crowd, though, like so many other foreigners who try, guitarist Trevor de Brauw insists he can't understand the distinct Glaswegian brogue from the floor. The set begins with a trundle but picks up with the chugging heaviness of Drought. Without a vocalist to hold the attention, the almost choreographed headbanging holds the eye during the climactic distortion overspills, while the intricacy of the overlapping layered guitar passages play out effectively in the live environment. An hour-long set from the Chicago troupe includes a majority of tracks from new album City of Echoes with a smattering of the old to keep a crowd happy enough to demand, and duly receive, a deserved encore in genre acrobatics. [Jamie Borthwick]