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Press Releases, Tour Dates

MT. ST. HELENS VIETNAM BAND TO PLAY VIRGIN MUSIC FEST SATURDAY JULY 25

MT. ST. HELENS VIETNAM BAND TO PLAY VIRGIN MUSIC FEST SATURDAY JULY 25

Also – Mount St. Helens Volcano performance; + September support tour with Japandroids

Dead Oceans recording artists Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band has added more dates to its already busy Summer/Fall tour schedule. The tour will be preceded by a few high profile performances including this weekend’s Virgin Festival in Vancouver, BC at Deer Lake Park on Saturday July 25. The band will also host a special benefit concert at the Mount St. Helens Institute, the non-profit arm of Mount St. Helens Monument on August 15. The latter event also marks the first time a band has ever played a volcano in the continental United States. Then in September, MSHVB will hit the road with Vancouver, BC band Japandroids for a series of Canadian and U.S. dates. The tour begins on September 5 in Victoria, BC at Lucky Bar and wraps up on September 30 in Petersburgh, ON at the Montreal House. Along the way, the band will make a few festival appearances including Seattle, WA’s Bumbershoot on September 6 and Urbana, IL’s Pygmalion Festival on September 16. Full details below.

Mt St. Helens Vietnam Band, the bands self-titled debut, is now available worldwide on Dead Oceans. The album was co-produced by the band and Scott Colburn (Animal Collective, Arcade Fire). The band has received critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, from SPIN, Alternative Press, Seattle Times, Seattle Sound, The Stranger, Venus, Uncut, Filter, Teen Vogue, The Onion AV Club, Metromix, Drowned In Sound, and NME. The band has shared the stage with the likes of the Walkmen, Man Man, Cursive, Bishop Allen, Tokyo Police Club, Pattern Is Movement and is making waves on the festival circuit with appearances (past / forthcoming) at SXSW, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Do Division, Virgin Festival BC, Bumbershoot and Pygmalion. The fast-rising band has also scheduled a performance on August 15 at Mount St. Helens volcano, the first band to ever play a volcano in the continental United States. For more information on the event, go here.

In other MSHVB news, head on over to Daytrotter (see June 26 post) to hear alternate versions of tunes from its self-titled, Dead Oceans debut.

TOUR DATES
7/25 – - Vancouver, BC – - Virgin Festival
8/15 – - Mount St. Helens, WA – - Mt. St. Helens Institute
9/5 – - Victoria, BC – - Lucky Bar *
9/6 – - Seattle, WA – - Bumbershoot Festival
9/7 – - Kelowna, BC – - Habitat *
9/9 – - Calgary, AB – - Broken City *
9/10 – - Saskatoon, SK – - Amigos *
9/11 – - Winnipeg, MB – - The Lo Pub *
9/12 – - Fargo, ND – - Aquarium *
9/13 – - St Paul, MN – - Turf Club *
9/14 – - Madison, WI – - High Noon Saloon *
9/16 – - Urbana, IL – - Pygmalion Festival*
9/17 – - Detroit, MI – - Magic Stik *
9/18 – - Guelph, ON – - Albion *
9/19 – - Toronto, ON – - Horseshoe Tavern *
9/21 – - Columbus, OH – - The Summit *
9/24 – - New York City, NY – - Mercury Lounge *
9/28 – - Buffalo, NY – - Big Orbit’s Soundlab *
9/29 – - Hamilton, ON – - Casbah *
9/30 – - Peterborough, ON – - The Montreal House *
* w/ Japandroids

As befits a mixed-race, -gender, and -generation band, this Seattle quintet never settles for the status quo. Bluesy single-note guitar lines compete with jagged chording, the bass thumps out counter-melodies, strained yelping dissolves into pastoral harmony. Yet it all coheres thanks to frontman Benjamin Verdoes’ pop instincts and the band’s jittery energy. For now, the music is ahead of the ho-hum lovelorn lyrics, and some tracks are fussy rather than fiery, but check the scattershotseven-minute closer, “On the Collar,” to hear how Mt. St. Helens explodes expectations – [7/10] SPIN

Big name. And as it turns out, this Seattle bunch don’t do many other things by halves either. Quite frankly, we applaud any band that recruits a 13-year-old drummer- regardless or output. The fact these guys sound like an angular Beirut only adds an extra string to this Von Trapp family’s quirky-bow. With vocals reminiscent of Wolf Parade, lo-fi production that smacks of The Strokes and off -kilter melodies that hint at Animal Collective (who unsurprisingly share joint custody of co-producer Scott Colburn), this debut juggles genres with ease – [7/10] NME

…Mt. St. Helen’s would only be a flash in the pan were it not for its sincere, cute, and entertaining live show, and of course its talent. Stop-start measures, tempo changes and harmonized vocals all make “Anchors Dropped” a grand listen. Make Sure to check out “A Year Or Two,” a departure from style and one of the most intriguing tunes on the record – [88%] FILTER

Indie rock that actually rocks. MSHVB are one for which we are definitely predicting big things – [4/5 STARS] ALTERNATIVE PRESS

Pairing pop melodies with instrumental oddities like toms and glockenspiel, MSHVB lives up to its eclectic name. Its music would be perfect for, say, scoring a Wes Anderson flick – [3/4 STARS] TEEN VOGUE

There’s a bit of math to these songs, with semi-erratic tempo changes and angular guitar arrangements, but MSHVB also maintains a strong melodic sensibility, from the expressive verses to group-sung choruses and catchy descants – [3.5/5 STARS] VENUS ZINE

…An appealing piece of go-ahead indie pop, with a certain charismatic bagginess and wit (the call-and-response safari anthem, “Going On a Hunt”) that points to a bright future – UNCUT