Chimpomatic

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

Dead Oceans

As you may or may not summise from their name, Seattle quintet TMSHVB (for, errr, short) are a mischievous bunch. Naming rights were given to then 13 year-old Marshall Verdoes, as a reward for improving his drumming sufficiently to form a band with his brother/adoptive father (depending on which blurb you read) Benjamin. With obscure name in place, TMSHVB set about creating a buzz for themselves - issuing a number of Public Service Announcements before making a sound available to the wider public.

When those sounds were set free, first in the form of self-recorded and released EP Weepy and now in their debut self-titled full length LP, the mischief remained very much front and centre. Co-produced by Scott Colburn (with Arcade Fire and Animal Collective to his name) TMSHVB walk a tidy line between slick and slapdash, playful and professional. I would guess that Marshall is no longer 13 years of age, as he spares no snare, keeping hard time with the wayward structure of most of the 11 songs that make up the album he titled. Like a more mature Spinto Band (a category which technically every single band in the world falls into) TMSHVB’s tunes are driven by fun and good times - a refusal to be limited by anything as square as traditional structure.

“Who‘s asking?” opens things up nice - with a choral ‘Oooh Oooh‘ heralding in a tune evidently about a disagreement between Ben Verdoes and an old flame. All nice and jaunty then a pair of lead guitars appear from nowhere, perform a quick Brian May-esque dual, then disappear off into the night, allowing the tune to return on its original way and pace. “Masquerade” has those May guitars starting proceedings, building a tasty riff, which this time is broken down into a Waltz after a minute. That’s not to say this is Vampire Weekend type boundary busting novelty fayre, Mt St Helens are indie and no mistake. And they do it well. With obvious talent, they keep the energy high and the mood light, sample lyric from “On a hunt“ “I’m going to spear the mighty Giant Squid, I’ll Steal it’s ink, to write you letters of my adventures.” In amongst all this hyperactivity, slower tracks such as “A Year or Too” or 7 minute string-tinged closer “On the Collar” hold their own - rounding out the album nicely.

Forget the hype. Let the music speak on their behalf.

#Music
#chimpovich

23rd Feb 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

Thunderbirds Are Now!

Make History

It's growing on me this one. I was ready to dismiss it as an immature effort from a band with a terrible name. However, as a teacher friend assures me; sometimes it's the cheekiest students you warm to the most, you just have to look that bit harder for their strengths and qualities.

It starts off promisingly; the picked guitar and vocal harmonies of album opener, 'Panthers in Crime', are a walk in The Shins territory, but that is as well behaved and grown up as the record gets. Once the drums kick in after a minute or so, it's all hyperactive energy and fun, fun, fun! Track 2, 'The Veil Comes Down', stays dangerously close to the Mcfly (band, not Parkinson's Ambassador) school of conventional, guitar pop. But they pull it back after that. If all this adolescent bounding around and Ryan Allen's nasal singing, make them obvious contemporaries of The Spinto Band, then 'Open Us Up' is their 'Oh Mandy' with its 'Woah-oh Woah-oh' shouty chorus. This is the one that will probably jump out of the record and onto the indie radio stations.

It's more of the same for the next few songs. The dubiously titled 'Shit Gold' is possibly the most interesting on the album. Here, they take a few breaths and slow things down a bit - letting the bass, irregular drums and quirky little synth noises drive things forward.

It is a fun album, they are pretty tight and have a confident sound, but I can't help thinking they have better songs in them. I'd have to check out their previous two albums to see if this is true or not. Were I to write a school report for this Detroit 4-piece, it would read "Could try harder to release their obvious potential." Or as Allen himself sings on 'PPL R ANMLS' "We gave you a chance, now give us a results!" Ditto.

#Music
#chimpovich

30th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Spinto Band

Fopp, Camden, London

In the abscence of dark lighting, a PA system, a raised stage and alcohol - the Spinto Band sounded like a bunch of special kids let loose in music class. Plus, we were the oldest there by about ten years.

#Music
#Gig
#chimpovich

15th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet