The economy is struggling, unemployment rates are rising and it is easy to lose hope. But with its new album, “What We All Come to Need,” Pelican offers a different perspective.

“It’s hard times right now. We’re caught in between the recession and wars. It’s a constant state of chaos,” said 32-year-old drummer Larry Herweg. “[The album] was just a way to sum up what every human being needs. And that’s the love and the strength we get from each other.”

Pelican will promote its latest album with a show Dec. 10 at The Summit. Herweg said the album shows improvement from previous ones. “I think this record is a lot tighter,” he said. “Everyone was more prepared this time around, and I think it shows when you listen to it.”

The instrumental rock band released its first full-length album, “Australasia,” with Hydrahead Records in late 2003. Since then, it has released three other albums. Its most recent was on a new label, Southern Lord.

Herweg said the band wrote songs for about a year before it did its first show. He rehearsed in his parents’ house in the suburbs of Chicago along with guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec, 32; guitarist Trevor de Brauw, 31; and bassist Bryan Herweg, 29.

Larry Herweg knew Schroeder-Lebec and de Brauw from a previous band, Tusk, he said.

“We had started talking about starting something on the side that was completely different from the songs we were doing in [Tusk],” he said.
The artists met “in the hardcore scene at shows,” Herweg said. “I think we all had a similar background with grunge, metal and punk. I think it shows in our band.”

Larry Herweg’s brother, Bryan, was a later addition.

“He came through a couple of our practices, and he was digging what we were doing,” Larry Herweg said.

The group asked Bryan to join and began thinking up a name.

What they came up with was no product of deep thought, and it doesn’t contain hidden meaning.

“There’s not really that much behind it,” Larry Herweg said. “We were sitting around talking after rehearsal and brainstorming, and someone said ‘Pelican,’ and we were like, ‘Oh, that sounds cool.'”

The band’s name might not be metaphorical, but it is known internationally. Pelican has traveled to Japan three times and also to Australia, Herweg said.

Contrary to romanticized Hollywood portrayals of life on the road, Herweg said there are always struggles on tour. “There’s just always something that happens, whether it be a flat tire or you get your stuff stolen in Rome … kind of nightmarish, but we get through it.”

The band is also popular in large U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle.

“Chicago is our hometown, so I’m sure we have the most love there because that’s where we really got started,” Herweg said.

The Columbus tour stops at The Summit, at 2216 Summit St., along with Black Cobra, Disappearer and Brainbow. Doors open at 7 p.m.

“We were in Columbus earlier in the year, and it was great,” Herweg said. “So we’re looking forward to coming back and playing a new venue.”