Fly Pan Am's self-titled debut spotlights the talents of Godspeed You Black Emperor's guitarist Roger Tellier-Craig, whose contributions to that group are just a part of their sweeping, complex sonic architecture. Here, Tellier-Craig's versatile playing is the focus, ranging from the shimmering, insistent psychedelia of "L'Espace Au Sol Est Redessine Par Des Immenses Panneaux Bleus" to "Et Aussi l'Eclairage De De Plastique Au Centre de Tout Ces Compartiments Lateraux"'s searing,
Sonic Youth-inspired art-skronk. Like GYBE and their other sister band
A Silver Mt. Zion,
Fly Pan Am embraces length in both the titles of their works and the pieces themselves, which feature the distinct, hypnotic movements found in GYBE's music; "Et Aussi..." moves from art punk to musique concrete to a bass-driven groove topped with strings. "Dans Ses Cheveux Soixante Circuits" begins as a lovely, rippling guitar motif that is stretched and repeated almost to the breaking point before becoming increasingly taut and atonal. "Bibi A Nice, 1921" opens with several minutes of abstract electronic sounds before exploding into a surf-inspired fury, which is replaced almost as quickly by a deceptively simple, poppy refrain. The album closer "Nice Est en Feu!" fuses an increasingly tense, complex guitar line with breathy female voices for a dramatic finale. Unlike some of their experimental/post-rock contemporaries,
Fly Pan Am manages to be ambitious and engaging at once, creating forward-thinking, guitar-based music that is challenging but not intimidating. ~ Heather Phares