Mt St Helens Vietnam Band

benjamin verdoes (vocals, guitar, percussion) hoped to motivate his younger brother marshall to push forward in his drum lessons. once marshall got good at drums, benjamin vowed, they'd start a band together, and now-13-year-old marshall would have naming rights. that promise is officially made good with the release of mt st. helens vietnam band's self-titled debut full-length. co-produced by scott colburn (the arcade fire, animal collective), the album at first blush recalls wolf parade; the band's frayed melodic sensibilities and benjamin's urgent, driven vocals in particular. of course, wolf parade borrowed a few ideas from modest mouse, whose beginnings were indebted to the pixies. this is the sort of musical lineage that creates the foundation for mt st helens vietnam band's debut lp. but mt st helens vietnam band are not solely inspired by their contemporaries; dig a little deeper and strains of queen's over-the-top epic rock peers through, while exhilarating guitar work that nods towards thin lizzy appears in more than a few songs. drawing members from seattle's popular in praise of folly, the band comprises the verdoes brothers, matthew dammer (moog, guitar, trumpet), jared price (bass, vocals), and traci eggleston (percussion, keys, vocals), who is also married to the elder verdoes. without the help of any music - not even a single mp3 to share - mt st helens vietnam band stirred up excitement and anticipation in their hometown of seattle. the band creatively introduced a series of comical psas on its myspace page ('homeostasis,' 'boring,' 'technology,' and 'gdol- gradual death over lifetime'), starring various band members with a focus on scene-stealer marshall.