FLY PAN AM
N’Ecoutez Pas
Constellation Records
· Ignore the album title (in English it means "Don’t Listen").
Experimental is a term often used to describe that which cannot be categorized. While experimental music has an unfortunate (albeit somewhat deserved) reputation for inaccessibility and pretentiousness, Fly Pan Am demonstrate that the preconceptions about it are not totally correct. On Montreal post-rock label Constellation records, home to the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (who share guitarist Roger Tellier-Craig with Fly Pan Am), the group is part of a new wave of artists melding spontaneity with thoughtful musical arrangements.
On "Autant zig-zag," droning shoegaze-style guitar, reminiscent of Kevin Shields is interrupted by a steadily-pounding drum. The group comes close to post-punk, Sonic Youth-style guitar on "Le faux pas aimer vous souhaite d'être follement ami." On "Très très ‘retro’," the group verges on a dance-punk esthetic similar to such artists as LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture. Lucky for their indie-cred (everyone knows dance punk went out with 2003), the song descends into a heavy bassline and (in trademark Fly Pan Am fashion) spontaneously cuts out for a short period of time, re-emerging with a soft, lullaby-like melody. Songs such as the aptly titled "..." in which the words "fly pan am" are repeated in a mechanized female voice against a backdrop of indistinguishable glitchy noise, keep things interesting.
N'Ecoutez Pas is Fly Pan Am’s most accessible release to date. The group maintains its experimental sensibilities while weaving in rock-style song structures – making it appealing to art-punk snobs and indie rockers alike. Call it what you will, this is stuff everyone should listen to.
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