Pelican - Nighttime Stories (Southern Lord)
Nighttime Stories is Pelican’s first full length in six years and also marks the band’s first release written front to back with guitarist Dallas Thomas, who took over guitar duties upon founding member Laurent Schroeder-Lebec’s departure in 2012.
Pelican’s heavy and expansive sound is still intact, but it’s the explosive summits of distortion, the layered textures that sway and thrust into this sonic climax that really clinches everything on Nighttime Stories. There’s always something cerebral on the way they communicate to the listener, the savage, almost dazzling departure from post-rock world was far too obvious since ever, but trying to label or even understand Pelican’s sonic pathway on Nighttime is challenging experience. The emotional angst is a fine comeback to Pelican’s younger years, this new effort sounds a bit darker, but in the end it’s just another straight-forward, fine and immersive effort from the Chicago outfit.