The Coward and the Pelican show, this Thursday

Don’t you love seeing young people do extraordinary things? We’re not talking a six year old who can recite the names of former US president by heart here, but just 7 young folks who make good music.

4584 Papineau, March 15

Into the Dawn by The Coward and the Pelican

Multi-instrumentalist Philippe St-Louis, whom I met at Osheaga, where we bonded over a shared excitement about Bell Orchestre’s set (and then returned to see them at Le National a few months later), was kind enough to send me a custom bio and a little MP3 to warm your hearts, ears and feet. It’s a family affair for The Coward and the Pelican, a mostly instrumental band that has just begun putting things into words on their songs. Check ‘em out via myspace for more listening fun. Or (the better option) join me at L’Inconditionnel this Thursday where it’ll all be going down. Oh, and if you play the upright bass and/or the electric bass, maybe they want you.

Added bonus: I’m told there’s dominos and board games in between sets. SOLD! They’ll be joined by monsieur Christopher Buckley who calls himself Gloworm and writes songs about kitten odysseys and the United Soviet Robot Republic (kids these days…) and Geometry Class, another solo keyboard player who has a song called “My grandmother broke her nose and then a plane landed on her”. Apparently that title is pretty self explanatory and a true story. Definitely one I want to hear.

The Coward and the Pelican is composed of seven young folks, four of which are bound by blood. Indeed, myself, Philippe St-Louis, my brother Etienne St-Louis, and my sister Evelyne St-Louis all came out of the same womb. The band completes itself with my cousin Carmen Madfouny, Ashley Bellm, Martha Chertkow and Simon Mercier-Nguyen. We like to play about the past, or the future, as long as we run away from the present. In our music, we pretend that we’re other people. Screw up, succeed, laugh, cry, live, die as someone else. That way, the stakes are low. This band was born out of the impossible desire to travel time and travel the world without ever leaving your home. The truth is that deep down, we’re all cowards. But then again, lucky for us, we also each have a little tiny pelican, fluttering in our hearts. Basically, our show aims to entertain. We like to use instruments that we were taught as children, and those include a few classical ones. Hopefully, they’re pleasing to the eye, and more importantly to the ears. Lastly, we’re not going to dictate how anyone is to interpret our music just because we don’t even always understand it ourselves…