Where The Messengers Meet

Rate It! Avg: 3.5 (55 ratings)
Sample Album
ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 43:29

eMusic Review

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Kyle Anderson

eMusic Contributor

08.02.10
Not a traditional rock album, but certainly a transcendence-seeking worldview
Label: Dead Oceans / SC Distribution

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are certainly not making things easy on themselves. They have an overly long band name, a curious origin story (their drummer, Marshall Verdoes, was adopted by bandleader Benjamin Verdoes and is only 15 years old), and first picked up online buzz via a series of trippy, soft-focus "infomercials" that taught about the dangers of homeostasis and advice on how not to be boring. With all that Internet weight, it'd be easy to dismiss them as a gimmick, one that doesn't advance past the aura of their mythology. But the Seattle-based quintet's 2009 self-titled debut was a thrill, full of loose, jangly homages to Jefferson Airplane-style psychedelia.

The new Where the Messengers Meet takes that template and blows it up to stadium size, adding bits of prog epicness and placing even more emphasis on Benjamin's bellowing vocal chops. The band's updated aesthetic seems best represented by "Hurrah," a pounding, crashing cavalcade of guitars and organ squeals that suggest what Muse might sound like if they weren't distracted by songs about werewolves.

They're even better when they slow things down and let other sounds tumble into the mix. "Not to Know" balances jazzy guitar with an elusive string section… read more »

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Just three stars

kinksdavies4ever

I like this - - but it's a little disappointing after their great debut cd. They seem to have diverted a little bit- - less hooks, less great guitar, longer songs here. I'm still keeping my eye on them and hoping for better things with #3 cd.

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They Say All Media Guide

The 2009 self-titled debut by Seattle’s Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, was an attractive, if nowhere near completely realized, shambolic intro to a talented group of musicians. On it they proved they could mine rock and roll’s many tropes–from Lieber and Stoller and Chuck Berry to psych, glam, and indie rock–paste them togerther at odd, but charming angles, call them original songs, and pull something like an album off–even if their marketing abilties exceeeded their musical ones. Where The Messengers Meet, finds the quartet–Benjamin Verdoes, Jared Price, Traci Eggelston-Verdoes, and Marshall Verdoes, with friends and guests –a bit more focused if less ambitious. In other words, you’ve heard everything here before as MSHVB reference indie rockers such as Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade, and Arcade Fire, to name a few. Album opener “At Night,” cops a Dead Weather riff– but it’s ok, DW combined stolen ones from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix–but moves the track dramtically as Benjamin Verdoes’ voice (strangely reminscent of a young Marc Bolan’s) adds tension and pathos to the web of guitars, Farfisa organs, big distorted bass drums, and a rudimentary bassline. “Leaving Trails” uses a similar forumla to a more sprawling conclusion,with multi-layered backing vocals becoming every bit as insisent as the lead guitar line that propels it all forward. Three tracks from the albums center feature cello and string arrangements by Sam Anderson: “Not To Know,” “You Were/I Was,” and “Bitter Cold” employ the most interesting, playful textures. Each has its own complex weave of lyric lines and melodies that seem to move in different directions rhythmically and harmonically. “In A Hole” begins minimally before letting the guitars and drums push the cut into the red with only B. Verdoes’ vocal climbing above the morass. Ultimately, MSHVB have plenty of their own ideas in spite of direct cops from other indie phenoms; the album doesn’t quite knit together seamlessly, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of interesting stuff here. If anything, Where The Messengers Are is an easily measurable improvement over their debut. – Thom Jurek

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