Pelican vs Mono, Mono vs Pelican, 2 crafty instrumental bands brought guitars and atmospherics to The Avalon NYC, the ex-church, ex-Limelight nightclub, an excellent venue for the cavernous aural linguistics of Japan's Mono and the f*cking triumphant Chicago band known as Pelican. Reviews and pics by el Jefe, Johnny Chiba

Click thumbpics for big shots - see below for Jefe's collages 'n animation

MONO = Pedal to the Meditative

I last saw Mono at SXSW Festival in 2001, where they whipped up a maelstorm of guitar, a meaty storm of instrumental fury. Five years later, the band has evolved into less-rockin, more classically-orient-ed progenitors of moody guitar gymnastics. Awash in subtlety and prog-rock ebb and floetry, the shoe-gazing indie-lovin audience ate it up.

These pics utilized a less-than-straightforward lens, lending themselves to the sensatory feeling of the Mono experiential

Mono drummer and bassist took keyboard break, encircling guitar one for more atmospherically challenged moodhopping

Here's what Mono look like when they're not bathed in darkness or twiddling their pedals. Give a click for a Quadra-Mono-Phenia

You Are There is the new CD on Temporary Residence Records. Click here

Click HERE for You Are There Jefe_collage

Click HERE for You Are There Jefe_Animatory

Check Jefe's SXSW Mono view from 2001, A Spaced Texass Odyssey: Mono at SXSW

Click here for Mono's intense webism

Pelican performed songs from their Hydra Head CD's Australasia and latest epic, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw. Guitarists Laurent Lebec and Trevor de Brauw (what's up with French folks from Chicago?) intertwining 6-string maestros, deftly picking and strumming, and downright packing an instrumental punch

The bass and drum were locked in combat, anchoring the impressive onslaught; I liked the small drum set, pounded to perfection by Larry Herweg. Bass technicalities caused a slight delay and eventually prevented an encore. French shouts from the band's euro-contingent wafted through the bass delay, chants of "Law-Rrrrahnt" in that froggy, throaty french way were amusing. Trevor guitman did some major headbanging onstage, replete with bending body movements, at times looking like... a Pelican!

Laurent Lebec stood his ground, Pelican legs firmly entrenched, pedal stomping and pushing the progessive rocking and dynamic interchanges that Pelican fish for.

This is indeed, a fucking triumphant band, riding the Peli-clouds of the instru-mentally-challenged indie set.

Click the small pics for bigger Peli-pics

Laurent Le (Jeff) Bec and his loquacious guitarphonics

A couple shots of Trevor and his magic LeBow

Trevor is an animated dude. Click to see le Pelicanimatory and Pelican de Brauw

PELICAN - The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw

(Hydra Head)

PELICAN/MONO- Split 7"

(Hydra Head/Temporary Residence)

PELICAN - Australasia

(Hydra Head)

Click HERE 4 Jefe's Pelicanesque Australasian Animatory

Click HERE 4 Mono vs Peli-Psyche