Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band Issue #39

s/t

By Laura Pearson
Published: March 1st, 2009 | 3:47pm

Even before they uploaded any MP3s to their MySpace page, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band launched a series of understatedly funny PSAs on such topics as “Technology” and “Homeostasis,” all of which concluded with a newsflash about their live debut at Seattle’s Neumos. Soon, The Stranger ran a feature, the group made an in-studio appearance at KEXP, and Stereogum gave them props (“Band To Watch”) — all before they played their first show — which, incidentally, saw an audience of more than 500 people.

Interesting though this back story may be, here’s hoping it won’t outshine the band’s dynamic debut full-length — a self-titled album co-produced by Scott Colburn (Animal Collective, Arcade Fire) that contains 11 rhythmically propulsive tracks. There’s a bit of math to these songs, with semi-erratic tempo changes and angular guitar arrangements, but MSHVB also maintains a strong melodic sensibility, from the expressive verses to group-sung choruses and catchy descants.

The elements of melodic math rock are reminiscent of Chicago band Maps & Atlases, while the spirited communal vocal delivery continually draws comparisons to Wolf Parade. But like the self-promo strategies that helped MSHVB originally blow up (and continue erupting), the five–piece seems primarily focused on doing its own thing, avoiding artistic stasis, and perhaps most importantly, having fun in the process.