Edited sentence: As for the instrumental nature of the band, Herweg states that "I think there are limitations that come with having a vocalist.As it is, no one can pin us down.I really don't want to be fixed in one genre.If we had some big burly man in front screaming, we'd be classified as metal.If we had some scrawny guy we'd be emo.Regarding the band's genre, de Brauw said, "I don’t think of Pelican as a metal band... I feel like we're part of a trajectory of Midwest bands that kind of blend aggression with a pop sensibility, so while it's easy to classify us with instrumental bands, we're not instrumental by design.Speaking on the plethora of labels used to describe Pelican's genre, bassist Bryan Herweg states that "it's flattering, really", and that "I take that as nobody being able to classify what we're doing.Touring has evolved the band's style from "drawn-out... slow-building" to "more direct and faster, and straight to the point" material to provide more energy on stage.We just didn't know how to put vocals in our music and for it to sound right