Pele is an instrumental

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The group formed in the summer of 1997 by guitarist Chris Rosenau, bassist Scott Schoenbeck and drummer Jon Mueller. Ever-evolving in sound, the band was difficult to classify. Early in Pele's career, critics had dubbed the band post-rock. However, later many fans began to hear them as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

y, with "nimble" guitars, "rolling" bass, and "skittering" drums "with angular fills and layered beats." These so-called jazz elements shone through untraditional "

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

handclaps, voices, and various blips and bleeps." After seven years, thirteen releases, and various national and international tours, Pele announced their winter 2004 tour would be their last. The remaining members went on to various projects, most notably

The Promise Ring The Promise Ring was an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is recognized as part of the second wave of emo. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: '' 30° Everywhere'' ...

and

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...

, but also New Rising Sons,

Volcano Choir Volcano Choir is an American indie rock band from Wisconsin, formed in 2005. It has released two albums, ''Unmap'' and ''Repave.'' History The band began as a collaboration between Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and members of Collections of Colonies ...

, and

Collections of Colonies of Bees Collections of Colonies of Bees is an American musical ensemble from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History Collections of Colonies of Bees was founded by Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller in 1998, then both members of the band Pele.American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

, who themselves reunited that year, at their New Year's Eve show at the

Bottom Lounge Bottom Lounge is a concert hall at 1375 W. Lake St. in Chicago, Illinois. Originally located in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood at 3206 N. Wilton, Bottom Lounge was acquired by the CTA in eminent domain in 2001 and seized for demolition in 2005 ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. A show in Milwaukee was later announced for April 18, 2015 at the Cactus Club.

Band members

* Jon Mueller - drums, percussion *Chris Rosenau - guitar *Scott Schoenbeck - bass *Scott Beschta - keyboards *Jon Minor - sampler, guitar, tambourine *Matt Tennessen - bass

Partial discography

*''Teaching the History of Teaching Geography'' (1998, Star Star Stereo Records) *''People Living with Animals. Animals Kill People'' (1998, Star Star Stereo Records) *''Elephant'' (1999, Sign Language Records) *''The Nudes'' (2000,

Polyvinyl Records In polymer chemistry, vinyl polymers are a group of polymers derived from substituted Vinyl group, vinyl () monomers. Their Polymer backbone, backbone is an extended alkane chain . In popular usage, "vinyl" refers only to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ...

) *''Realize It'' (2001, Crouton Music) *''Enemies'' (2002, Polyvinyl Records) *''Pele/Rhythm of Black Lines'' (split 2003, Sixgunlover Records) *''Pele / toe'' (split EP 2004, Polyvinyl Records) *''A Scuttled Bender in a Watery Closet'' (April 7, 2009, Polyvinyl Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pele (American Band) American instrumental musical groups American post-rock groups Rock music groups from Wisconsin Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Musical groups disestablished in 2004 Musical groups established in 1997

Band members

Partial discography

See also

References