Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – Where The Messengers Meet (Dead Oceans)
4/5
By: Chris Jones
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band is a five-piece from Seattle who, prior to the release of their self-titled debut album, released a series of amusing PSA announcements to attract attention. It worked, those unconventional beginnings declaring the arrival of their curious brand of music just nicely, and they haven’t looked back. Where The Messengers Meet is a potion of rock-educated guitars, subtle layered sounds and orchestral wealth, forming a very distinct musical flavour.
Opening number ‘At Night’ features singer Benjamin Verdoes wailing some very Jack-White-style vocals over purposeful guitars, drums and cymbals to great effect as an orchestral swoon bares over the singer and splashes on the music before dispersing into ‘Leaving Trails’, a tune led by discordant guitars reminiscent of At the Drive-In.
The messy sense of disharmony gets dressed up and goes to town (in clothes that don’t match) in ‘Hurrah’. Once you get past the one minute mark, it begins to sound like a revolving punishment, played over an ageing public address system in some cartoon mental asylum, taunting the wandering patients in their open-backed gowns; the recurring merry-go-round guitar riff, punctuated by furious eruptions of percussion, sounding unhinged and awkward.
But typically of this album things change quickly, and drastically, as halfway through the record a deeper element becomes apparent in the shape of ‘You Were / I Was’. The solemnity and subtle lyrics work well with the sense of grandeur that creeps in and finds a severe and mighty standing over the tune. Then three minutes in it breaks into something different once more, as at the end it flows into the tranquil intro of ‘Gone Again’, in which a doctor inspects a patient, who says they’re sick, before the doc turns into a monster... a weird but deft marriage of a sense of dread with softly sung lyrics.
The guitar gusto is revived like a flaming gypsy on ‘Cadence’ which boasts a remarkable, epileptic riff, highly reminiscent of The Mars Volta in all the right ways – the coolest track on the album. The drums are varied and off-beat, providing an originality to the backdrop of the soundscape. But lyrically, the best track is ‘Messengers’. Musings on a relationship rift, it’s a troubled ballad with a texture of authenticity achieved through the honest portrayal of an ambivalence of sentiments. Towards this other in the relationship he sings, “But there is a magic still between us, I feel it in the cadence of our step.” It’s cute how they touch on such emotional complexity, pondering how humans can love, hate and feel detached from someone all at the same time.
The general oddness of their music may owe something to hailing from Seattle, renowned as the dark, wet womb (it rains bare in Seattle) that spawned the moody music of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Sky Cries Mary, amongst others. And it’s true there are many influences evident here, perhaps too many. But the major merits of Where The Messengers Meet can be found in the guitar work, the wailing lyrics and aspirations towards powerful, epic songs full of layers and grand arrangements. As a record, it’s a little schizophrenic, but if you like your music imaginative, then the skewed temperament of the Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band is for you.
Artists in this article: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment