On March 10th, a promise from big brother to little brother will be
realized.
Benjamin Verdoes (vocals, guitar, percussion) hoped to motivate his younger
brother Marshall to push forward in his drum lessons. Once Marshall got good
at drums, Benjamin vowed, they'd start a band together, and now-13-year-old
Marshall would have naming rights. That promise is officially made good with
the release of Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band's self-titled debut full-length.
Co-produced by Scott Colburn (the Arcade Fire, Animal Collective), the album
at first blush recalls Wolf Parade; the band's frayed melodic sensibilities
and Benjamin's urgent, driven vocals in particular. Of course, Wolf Parade
borrowed a few ideas from Modest Mouse, whose beginnings were indebted to
the Pixies. This is the sort of musical lineage that creates the foundation
for Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band's debut LP. But Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
are not solely inspired by their contemporaries; dig a little deeper and
strains of Queen's over-the-top epic rock peers through, while exhilarating
guitar work that nods towards Thin Lizzy appears in more than a few songs.
Drawing members from Seattle's popular In Praise of Folly, the band
comprises the Verdoes brothers, Matthew Dammer (Moog, guitar, trumpet),
Jared Price (bass, vocals), and Traci Eggleston (percussion, keys, vocals),
who is also married to the elder Verdoes. Without the help of any music--not
even a single mp3 to share--Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band stirred up
excitement and anticipation in their hometown of Seattle. The band
creatively introduced a series of comical PSAs on its MySpace page
("Homeostasis," "Boring," "Technology," and "GDOL- Gradual Death Over
Lifetime"), starring various band members with a focus on scene-stealer
Marshall.
The media were quick to take notice of the buzz, with Current TV running a
segment on the band and Seattle newsweekly the Stranger printing a lengthy
feature story. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band performed an in-studio at
legendary KEXP, and subsequently had its self-released and homemade Weepy EP
added into rotation. Stereogum took notice and christened Mt. St. Helens
Vietnam Band a "Band to Watch!" All this before Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
had played their first show--a headlining performance in July 2008 with over
500 fans in attendance.
Since that first show, the excitement around Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band has
continued to build. In November 2008, Spin included Mt. St. Helens Vietnam
Band in its "Buzzcatcher" column, saying, "check how 'Dull Reason' and
'Anchors Dropped' ingeniously whipsaw between tense indie raving and
harmony-rich pastoralia." More love was garnered by Alternative Press in
their "AP&R" section, where they proclaimed, "The Pacific Northwest buzz is
palpable thanks to complex and unique arrangements and a feel good
atmosphere."
|
