Fly Pan Am - Ceux Qui Inventent N'ont Jamais Vecu (?)
(Constellation)
Fly Pan Am are a four piece group from Montreal, and Ceux Qui Inventent
N'ont Jamais Vecu (?) is their second LP. The title is a reference to the Gil
J. Wolman 1952 film, The Anticoncept. Its an imageless film which was his
first attempt to find a more personal and expressive form of making art than
he had found at that point in the Lettrist movement. A good jumping off point
for a band who have taken what was a seemingly cold and mechanical aesthetic
and infused it with some highly organic and expressive elements. Still
intact are the lush tape manipulations, a strong sense of failure (see track
6), and plenty of references to the the Italian Futurist movement, whose
declaration of the beauty of industrialization, and all the sounds that come
with it, seems to be a central theme for the band. What's been added though
has more to do with downtown NYC in the 80's than Italy at the turn of the
century. Guitarists Rodger and Felix both have a keen eye for the fucked up
syncopations of their No-Wave predecessors. At times their rock steady
guitar parts sound more like percussion then melody. Bassist Joan-Sebastien
and drummer Felix hold down some serious backbeat funk that is undeniably
catchy and pop. There rhythms are extremely tight and precise, a striking
contrast to their defective tape machines, computer glitches, clunky
percussion instruments, and toy pianos that seem to make their way into the
mix. Songs start and stop in mid stride, and at times you wonder if your CD
player is busted. The guitars move effortless through dry noise and ambient
texture, as in track 6, which even features mallet guitar, a nice nod to
Glen Branca's early symphonies.
The success of this record is that Fly Pan Am have found a way to indulge
in their love of repetition but make it captivating and organic at the same
time. The foreground is constantly trading places with the background, and
just when you think you've had enough of some part or sound, it trades place
with another or cuts out completely leaving only the residue of the tape
head behind. Repeated listens advised.
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