Seattle Subsonic

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Say Hi CD Releases @ Neumos

March 2nd, 2009

Friday, March 6, 2009

8:00 pm

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band burst onto our little scene last year with a wide array of ridiculous selling points, almost to the point where we wondered which evil corporate parasite had taken it upon himself to shove this band down our collective throats. There were the “promo” videos. There were the hideous, curtain-style homemade matching outfits. There was the unbelievably and undeniably talented 13-year-old prodigy behind the drumkit who might as well have started his own “solo project”. Heck, the band’s sweetheart and multi-percussionist, Traci Eggleston-Verdoes (married to frontman Ben), was even sending out homemade postcards to their fans last week. And would you believe that local ice creamery Molly Moon’s has created a Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band ice cream flavor?? Yeah—coconut ice cream with chocolate chunks and huckleberry sauce. I know, it’s all a bit ludicrous.

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Aside from the massive “marketing”, however, it’s the music that tops the list of reasons you should go see them. Eccentric and explosive prog-pop-guitar sensibilities dominated their debut EP, but they were able to infuse it with a smart-as-a-whip cavalcade of moody indie and classic rock riffage. Think Broken Social Scene and Modest Mouse working chaotically together in harmony (?). Or Wolf Parade taking high-strung cues from Pixies.

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Geez, with those references, it’s no wonder I’m overtly excited for the debut full length.

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All Ages / $12 Adv

Free Molly Moon’s Ice Cream!

Say Hi also releasing their new CD! Stream it here!