Seattle’s Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band bubbled to the surface of indie rock awareness with a series of awesomely awkward and self-aware promo videos that feel like the brain child of a band that was raised on healthy doses of Riddlin and low-fi 80′s PBS :
Their faux-PSA based MySpace page was up before they’d even spent time putting down tracks. That and a 14 year old drummer (the adopted brother of the lead singer) might add up to side-show shtick if it wasn’t for the presence of the music itself. Going all Guy Kawasaki and viral video marketing your product band to build a brand only works if you actually deliver a product, and this product is like a Snuggie made out of Sham Wow. Full of jangly guitars ( think Pinback meets the Corto Maltese) and a lo-fi, high attitude attention to rhythm come together to build a tight sonic space that accentuates the romantic narrative of the lyrics ( Put some cans on and give the love-in-springtime track ‘Cheer for Fate’ a listen). They’re also not afraid to embrace a love of classic crock, dropping some hot Brian May riffage on songs like ‘Little Red Shoes’. Look for their self-titled , out now on the up-and-coming label Dead Oceans.
They are out on tour:
May 30 2009 The Mill Iowa City, Iowa
May 31 2009 Do Division – Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
Jun 2 2009 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Ontario
Jun 3 2009 Il Motore Montreal, Quebec
Jun 4 2009 Middle East Upstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jun 6 2009 Union Hall New York, New York
Jun 7 2009 Mercury Lounge NEW YORK, New York
Jun 9 2009 M Room Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 10 2009 Black Cat Backstage DC, Washington DC
Jun 12 2009 Bonnaroo Music Festival! Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 13 2009 The Bottletree Birmingham, Alabama
Jun 14 2009 Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack Little Rock, Arkansas
Jun 15 2009 Mohawk Austin, Texas
Jun 17 2009 Hi Dive Denver, Colorado
Jun 23 2009 Neumos w/Cursive Seattle, Washington
Jun 24 2009 Wonder Ballroom w/Cursive Portland, Oregon
Jun 26 2009 The Boardwalk w/Cursive Orangevale, California
Jun 27 2009 Great American Music Hall w/Curisve San Francisco, California
Jun 28 2009 El Rey Theatre w/ Cursive Los Angeles, California
Jun 29 2009 The Glass House w/Cursive Pomona, California
For your itunes:
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band Dull Reason
