Reissue Review

If you’re in an alternative, indie or punk band today you have it easy. You can post your songs on your MySpace page, people across the world can click on your player and sample your tunes, you can set-up tours online if you wish, and, best of all, an entire network of clubs, fans, and media outlets are at the ready should you service them with a worthy collection of musical goods.

In the mid-80’s life was not this easy.

Volcano Suns came to be during this time period, and even though they were an off-shoot of the legendary Boston post-punk band Mission Of Burma, their career was certainly no cake walk. The press release that accompanied this advance reprints reviews their albums received at the time. The most recognizable media outlets are the Village Voice, New Musical Express, and, in truly fitting fashion, Forced Exposure. Mainstream music magazines like Rolling Stone weren’t covering anything like this in-depth, MTV’s 120 Minutes wasn’t on the air yet, and, needless to say, the Internet and sites such as Pitchfork were seemingly light years away.

So how did kids in the 80’s find out about bands like Volcano Suns? Well, for the most part they didn’t. It was too difficult. That is why quality music such as this could take over 20 years to actually make it onto CD. A time period so lengthy that the medium itself is in danger of becoming extinct to the dreaded MP3.

But they have made it (perhaps in the nick of time) and their arrival is certainly a cause for celebration. Like many kids of the 80’s who started to get into underground music in the early 90’s, these guys completely passed me by. Even though they released albums on the big three indies of the 1980’s (Homestead, Touch and Go, and SST) they still seemed even further dug-in than the underground likes of Dinosaur Jr., Husker Du, and Sonic Youth.

So these two discs are my first time hearing (not hearing of) the band and I must say, I’m impressed. If I could draw any direct comparisons it would be somewhat of a cross between another 80’s underground act, Big Dipper (which sported two members in the initial short-lived version of Volcano Suns) and founding member drummer Peter Prescott’s previous band, Mission Of Burma.

The most intriguing aspect of the band may be how mid-80’s alternative they actually sound. Their first album, The Bright Orange Years, blasts out of the gates with the anthem “Jak.” Similar to many of their ilk from this era, the bass is much more of the song’s driving force than you find in indie rock these days. The vocals are gravely, and the overall delivery is just heavy rock. It sounds like something Steve Albini would have produced.

Listen to “Jak”

Hints of Mission Of Burma’s dissonant, angular guitars abound throughout the record, but are usually just sprinkled within the confines of a song as opposed to being it’s spine. If the same progression from one band to another had occurred today, it’s likely Volcano Suns would have been the more commercially successful since most of their songs are more traditionally structured than Burma’s output. Take for instance, “Balancing Act,” off of Orange Years – a great example of Prescott’s ability to write an ace, melancholy pop song.

Listen to “Balancing Act”

But don’t let the pop tag fool you. These guys aren’t going to be getting confused for Death Cab For Cutie anytime soon. One of the most pleasant surprises about these albums is how damn fresh they sound because they’re not trying to be pop masterpieces – like so many of the records the big indie rock bands are releasing today. It’s obvious that Volcano Suns were still from an era where it wasn’t really cool to dig The Beatles and your dad’s record collection. Now that we’re so bogged down in a sea full of Beatles, Beach Boys and Kinks clones, albums like this are a welcome relief.

While The Bright Orange Years is a bit more straight-forward in it’s attack, it’s follow-up, All Night Lotus Party, veers all over the map. It’s a darker album as well, with songs such as the somber “Room With a View” taking center stage. I was actually more impressed with some of the extra tracks added on to this disc (10 total nearly doubling the disc’s length), which find the band in a more jovial mood. And speaking of Beatles clones, a fantastic cover of “Polythene Pam” leads off the bonus material. (Maybe I was wrong about them not appreciating their dads’ record collections!) “Greasy Spine” is a funny anthem that appears as an extra (albeit two different versions) on both albums. Sample lyric, “Never trust a man with a skinny tie/Never trust a girl with a greasy spine/When she says she wants to be your valentine!” “Journey To The Center Of The Mind” sounds like the kind of spaced out rock Man Or Astro-Man would be releasing about ten years down the road, while the aptly titled “Jazz Odyssey” showcases the band stretching out their chops in appropriately rocking fashion.

Listen to “Room With a View”
Listen to “Polythene Pam/Greasy Spine”
Listen to “Journey To The Center Of The Mind”

Overall at 43 tracks total, it is a lot to digest. But once you dig in and give it a chance you’ll find yourself coming back to it. Sure it sounds dated, but that may be the best part of the deal. Everything is so fresh, the ideas are flowing at full-speed, the band is rocking. It reminds you how alternative “alternative” music used to be.

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