First and foremost, I need to get this little rant out of the way. It is WAY too early for end of the year best of lists to start. It seems much like Christmas decorations, end of the year lists come out earlier and earlier every year. As if there is some secret competition to be first. So, since I’m apparently creating secret internet agreements, I’d like to create another: no best of lists until the day after Thanksgiving. Preferably not until the first of December.

Seeing that Amazon.com wasn’t privy to this secret agreement and considering the loads of love they gave to local bands, I’ll forgive them for jumping the gun and releasing their Best of/End of the Year lists yesterday. The Seattle based we-sell-everything-site gave a nod to a number of local bands, and we’re not talking Death Cab For Cutie; we’re talking legitimately local bands like The Maldives, The Nightgowns, D. Black, Grand Hallway and Throw Me The Statue.  It was a surprise, albeit an incredibly pleasant one, to see so many familiar names on the lists.

Here are the lists and the Northwest locals that Amazon shouted out:

Best Albums of 2009 

Featuring: David Bazan (86), Point Juncture, WA (81), Brandi Carlile (58), Mt. St Helens Vietnam Band (51), Throw Me the Statue (43), Cave Singers (29)

Best Songs of 2009

Featuring: The Thermals (90), Throw Me The Statue (89), Ramona Falls (88), Mt. St Helens Vietnam Band (82), The Nightgowns (73), Nurses (69), Grand Hallway (59), David Bazan (58), Death Cab for Cutie (54)

Outstanding 2009 Albums You May Have Missed

Featuring: Richard Swift (88), The Maldives (50), D. Black (12), The Dutchess & The Duke (11), J. Tillman (9), Point Juncture WA (5), Mt. St Helens Vietnam Band (2), Throw Me The Statue (1)

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band (I couldn’t find a Bumbershoot photo of them so here is a Sasquatch 2009 pic) :::  by Josh Lovseth

How do you feel about first impressions? Do you let them linger and define or do you shrug them off and occupy your mind with other things? If I think back to my freshmen year Psych 101 class, people tend to make up their minds about one another within the first two minutes of meeting someone. Personally, I tend to give a pass on lackluster first impressions because my own usually leave much to be desired.

I’m not saying Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band are a band who gave a terrible first impression at Bumbershoot. They just didn’t leave me weak in the knees. As I look over the harshness of my notes on their set, I blame some of my acrimonious electronic scribbling on the fact that the stage time for their set was in contention with the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s performing. MSHVB frontman Benjamin Verdoes was almost overly apologetic for the scheduling conflict, as if he mistakenly arranged what time bands were playing throughout the weekend. I appreciated the sincere gesture, didn’t he know that him and his band were potentially fucking up my concert-goer flow? Shit.

And so the music began and it went something like this: Big cool harmonized riff, flaccid chorus, “What the fuck is this weird part? It came out of nowhere but I’m liking it,” flaccid chorus, big rock’n roll riff and now we’re done. For the record, I do remember one of their new songs being particularly cool because it reminded me of older Wolf Parade. They had a lot of riffs that reminded me of The Bloc Walkmen Party of Artic Monkeys having a Vampire Weekend. Yawn. You know whatever indie label you want to throw on it, the truth is the kids love it these days. I don’t know. Maybe I was just in uninterested asshole mode, but the Mt. St. Helen’s charm wasn’t working on me that afternoon. Besides Benjamin and the band looked pretty beat up and tired. There was mention of a 5am ferry ride from Victoria early that morning. I hope MSHVB rested after the show because they’re on a somewhat long tour with Japandroids as we speak. Rested or not, they’re lucky. Japandroids are a good band.

The sound on stage was kind of weird, I can’t hold that against the band. On record, the levels are more evenly mixed, duh, I know. The big riffs don’t rival Sasquatch in stature and the jangly riffs aren’t so cowardly. I was dying during their set, constantly being teased by the former only to be let down by the latter. I’m all about odd time signatures and guitar lines that mirror the complexity of an ivy league lecture, yet have a brevity similar to the amount of time it takes a teenage girl to act like a self-important bitch. But it’s a sin for a guitar player to kill a good riff with a bad one. Reprehensible. And to mix riffs that are so jagged only to followed up by anesthetic chord progressions with literal adolescent, garage rock drumming? I don’t know man, it’s pretty catatonic. Why don’t you call me back in a bit? I swear it’s me…not you…honest…..

It hurts. I want to cheer for this band so badly, because they’re infinitely more interesting than so many acts out there. At least they are willing to take risks regardless of whether they fall on their face or not. That’s admirable and definitely worth mentioning. I think if Mt. St. Helen’s stay a cohesive unit for the next couple years, during that time they’ll put out something truly amazing and mind-blowing. In the meantime, I’ll just wait for it and say “I told you so” when it does eventually happen.

When one is asked whether the words “national park” and “rock” might go in the same sentence, most people’d probably say “Yeah, of course.” Old rocks, right? Special rocks with fossils in them, or even if you pan enough golden rocks. The kind of rock we talk about on this here blog though isn’t the typical kind you might find on the grounds, or the kind that geologists are experts on.

For fittingly for the “First Ever Concert at Mt. St. Helens,” Seattle’s Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band will be playing the Johnston Ridge Observatory overlooking the park and the volcano this Saturday August 15th, following an afternoon opportunity for a guided tour. And I just love the poster (above) that they’ve made to look like an old school national park sign to go along with it the day.

Tickets for the show with the option of a guided tour can be had online for $35, or just $25 for the concert. All proceeds are to go for new park exhibits in light of the approaching 30th anniversary volcano’s eruption.

Last week we told you they had An album, an ice cream, a nationwide tour in the plans for this week, and now a self made super cute Hi8 video hit the net too. Lucky. MSHVB are on tour now and will be playing the SXSeattle party in Austin for SXSW. You should go if you’re in that area.

MP3: “Cheer For Fate” by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band from their self-titled LP out courtesy of Dead Oceans

You can also watch the band play this song acoustic as a part of a recently posted episode of the One Shot at the Crocodile series. Only seven more days people.

HT: Seattle Subsonic

The Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are releasing their self-titled record to the world on the 10th, and this Friday they’re doing a local all-ages CD release show with Say Hi (who’s also releasing an album) at Neumos. The full length seems to be getting just as much buzz as the buttoned-up EP got when it came out last summer, and with a healthy tour through Austin supporting Bishop Allen on the horizon, their notoriety among indierattie (I just made that up, can you tell?) is bound to increase even quite a bit.

This Thursday at 6pm (or is it 5pm as the band’s myspace page states?), the band will be “guest scooping” their own personalized flavor, aptly titled “Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band Ice Cream” at Molly Moon’s Ice Cream in Wallingford to all comers. The flavor is “a concoction of coconut ice cream with chocolate chunks and huckleberry sauce.” That sound’s right up my alley. Nobody’s gonna convince me that coconut ice cream is anything but yummy.

MP3: “Cheer For Fate” by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band from their self-titled LP out 3/10 courtesy of Dead Oceans

MP3: “Anchors Dropped” by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band from their self-titled LP out 3/10 courtesy of Dead Oceans

Check a few of the songs from the record above. Then buy the record from Dead Oceans (when it comes out). But first, please enjoy the band’s latest PSA, a warning about homeostasis brought to us by MSHVB’s adorable drummer, Marshall.

A complete list of Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band tour dates and SXSW appearances is below the fold. They will be playing early in the day at the aformentioned SXSeattle Day Party.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Please excuse obvious headline. I couldn’t resist). Titled Ooh’s and Ahh’s, the new record is out on Barsuk Records next Tuesday, March 3, 2009. The first song I’ve heard from the record “Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh” is a winner.

MP3: Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh by Say Hi From Ooh’s and Ahh’s courtesy of Barsuk Records

Spin premiered another track last month, called “November was White, December was Grey,” and that one ain’t to shabby either.

Say Hi is playing a record release show with Visqueen and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, who are also releasing a record the same night (more on that later), on March 6 at Neumos. Then they are off to swing through SXSW on a month-long nationwide tour with new local fav Telekinesis.

Say Hi’s tour dates are below the fold.

Read the rest of this entry »

Starfucker at the Greenhouse ::: Photo by Josh

Portland band Starfucker gives us a taste of their forthcoming LP. The song, titled “German Love,” is off their first LP set to arrive in September. It’s a winner. |dl it at End Hits|

Dream Lineup: Wilco announce opening dates that include Fleet Foxes. The dates in August (18, 20, 21, 23) are all in the Northwest. |pitchfork|

Good stuff out this week. Team Gina and The Notwist have new ones you should sample, and the Bowerbirds are nationally reissuing their Hymns for a Dark Horse, an album that comes with our highest recommendation.

Oh yeah, and the album with that inescapable song “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry came out. Seriously 107.7fm. You don’t have to play it every hour. Did you know she used to be a Christian singer, albiet with a different name? I refuse to link to her site or give her any tag love. Ugh.

Big acts are announcing their late summer and fall dates. Here are a few future Seattle club dates, post Capitol Hill Block Party that I think are notable (this is my first time really thinking past that weekend):

Conor Oberst @ Neumos on July 30
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Awesome and BOAT @ Neumos July 31
CANCELED! The Faint @ Showbox Aug 2
POSTPONED! Stars @ Showbox Aug 23
Bon Iver @ Neumos Aug 30
Okkervil River @ Showbox Sept 17
CSS @ Showbox Sept 18
Blue Scholars and Hieroglyphics @ Showbox 26 & 27
Raconteurs @ WaMu Theatre on Sept 19
Black Kids @ Neumos on Oct 10
Leo Kottke, Louden Wainwright III @ The Moore Oct 12
Lykke Li @ Neumos on Oct 29

With Bumbershoot happening at it’s end I kinda think August will be a slow month for big acts. And I’m okay with that. Being outside of the club in the hot months is fine by me.

And in not local but still notable news …

Chinese Democracy does exist. And it’s leaking. And people are saying it’s actually good. Oh boy! |Metal Sucks|