Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band Wore Matching Outfits
October 17th, 2008
Here are some pics from the Vera Project Benefit at Neumos this past weekend (10/11). The Ruby Suns and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band opened for Tokyo Police Club. Despite being a rather large TPC fan, I was most excited to see MtStHVB. Simply put, this rowdy 5-piece with the allegorical name (I think there are two volcanoes referenced in their name) was IMPRESSIVE (or, alternately, AWESOME). What surprised me was how much they let the wheels come off; for some reason I thought they’d be more mellow, or slow-burning or something. What’s more, they offered up a healthy, compelling set list that belied their brief 4-song EP.
Their music is a blistering blend of epic 70s metal, piercing 80s punk, and moody 90s indie rock. Not to mention the blast of weird they get from the keyboardist’s ritualistic antics using tambourines taped to broomsticks. Using the inability to stay in one place, she might’ve been channeling otherwordly spirits in the name of Halloween. Speaking of that dress-up holiday, you’ll probably notice the matching vests that all the dudes are sporting. The fabric looks like it might’ve been pilfered from the couch of the Golden Girls. What you can’t quite see from any of the pics is that a) said keyboardist was initially wearing a cloak of the same material and b) the fantastic drumming of the wunderkind behind the skins. The reports were correct, his reputation preceded him, give him the trophy. Legend has it the boy named Marshall is only 13 years old; check his ID, cuz he is waaaaaay too young to be this good.
They’ll play Neumos again December 7th. Related promo video here.
Kudos to the gents in TPC for doing double-time that night. After opening for Weezer, they quickly shuttled to Neumos to play a rapid-fire set of charming, slightly elegaic electro punk. Lead vocalist David Monks is really one of the better bassists out and aboot (he’s Canadian), and keyboardist/knob twister Graham Wright is a complete spazz (in a good way). There are a few more pics of the cops from Japan after the jump.
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