volcano! - Paperwork

Almost three years ago volcano! Made themselves known with their glitch ridden skittery-scattery avant-punk debut album ‘Beautiful Seizure’. It was like a cross collision between Radiohead, Jeff Buckley and the then fashionable wave of glitchcore acts led by the likes of Kid 606. The album was as infuriating as it was bewildering. It sounded like the work of smug college kids who just happened to find true beauty amidst their clattering art damaged noise. Their live shows confirmed that the band kind of knew what they were doing. They were able to transcend the pretensions that often led the album down some mind numbing cul-de-sacs. Most importantly the band revealed they had true soul.

‘Paperwork’ is a major step up, but not the major step up volcano! had to take. They still fumble and dawdle about, they still sound a little too knowing and sometimes they still veer towards chaos rather resolution. The band seemed to have learnt most of their lessons though. Starting with heart and soul they build their songs upwards and onwards using this solid foundation. They then add their eccentric textures, randomly abrasive sounds, Aaron With’s sweet falsetto and razor blade melodies. Mixing in further free jazz, Afro-beat, funk, soul, post-rock and electronica influences the band mix, match and shuffle everything around until it all sounds volcano-esque.

‘Performance Evaluation Shuffle’ gets things off to a marching beat almost resembling a conventional pop song. Until about a minute in that is when With starts to rant and the music reaches a hysterical peak. First single and album highlight, ’Africa Just Wants To Have Fun’ is where volcano! really flex their musical muscles. From the first second to the last it is compelling and incredibly fun look at globalisation that is neither patronising or unrelentingly cynical. Synths, guitars, disco-beats, burps, squelches, Calypso, pop, Afro-Beat, post-punk and everything in between are turned into the coolest six minutes you will experience this year. In a parallel universe it is a smash hit.

‘Tension Loop’ is a little too similar to Radiohead to make much of an impact but the meandering melancholy of ‘Fairy Tale’ is another highpoint. Based on With’s experience of the non-profit sector it is a withering and frenzied roller coaster ride that encompasses every trick in volcano!’s magic little bag. ‘Slow Jam’ sounds like a Mighty Boosh parody of a soul-funk song or ‘Midnite Vultures‘ era Beck. Despite this it has its wacky and loveable charms especially when it almost ends up resembling the oddest Stevie Wonder covers band you might ever hear. From this point on the album starts to drift and falls back into some needless bad habits although the driving epic ‘’78 Oil Crisis’ for most of its seven minutes almost avoids most of these pitfalls.

volcano! could be a major force to be reckoned but that might involve the kind of compromise that sees the band lose their beautiful rough edges. For the time being though ‘Paperwork’ will do just fine.