Pelican

Hydrahead's newest signings, the Chicago-based Pelican, is another great addition to the label's already spectacular roster. Originally self-released, this four-song EP is a teaser to their upcoming full-length debut for the label and oh, what a teaser it is. Completely instrumental, the band play repetitive droning riffs over and over, building walls of sounds stuck somewhere between the monotonous overdrive of Dylan Carlson's original Earth project and modern instrumental indie rock like Mogwai and Kinski. Well, maybe more metal sounding than Mogwai, definitely as far as the guitar tones are concerned, which are heavy heavy heavy in a Tony Iommi kind of way. You can imagine these guys playing in front of a wall of vintage Sunn cabinets repeating riffs over and over and over and over and over and over... Brilliant.