If, like me, you were barely old enough to string sentences together during the early nineties heyday of shoegaze, the genre’s ongoing revival is something of a blessing. On Volcano, a four-piece group from Tampere, Finland, provide the latest aural treat for revivalists. “New Blood”, their second EP released late last year, is a little bit special.
These guys only deal in epics: every track on here is over six minutes long. “The Explorer” opens the EP with a slow build over a simple string part, underpinned by gentle rolling drums. Finally, four minutes into the track, it morphs into a catchy little pop number for its final two. “Mission” reveals itself much sooner. It’s got a chirpy bassline and a simple guitar riff that, from another band, could be the start of a terse, indie rock stadium filler. But no, this is shoegaze after all, so the vocals stay low key and the song just keeps building. By the time the song’s refrain, “Wave your flag and dance to the mission”, finally emerges you’ll happily obey without a second thought.
At first listen, EP closer “Ume Blossom” might seem like a bit of an indulgent, ambient nothing of a track. It sort of is, for near two minutes, but then a warm guitar line appears that eventually gets swallowed by a warped guitar swoop in the style of Arcade Fire‘s Empty Room or just about every great My Bloody Valentine song. The song finally explodes into action over six minutes in after a fadeout. The cheek. The payoff is huge, though, as epic guitars reverberate in the distance and Minna Sihvonen’s vocals for the first time recall the soaring heights reached by Cocteau Twins‘ Elizabeth Fraser. It’s an incredible way to close the EP.
On Volcano are working on their first full length album. If they could just tease us a little less with slightly shorter intros, it could be magnificent. You can grab a few tracks from the EP below and hit the band’s website for a complete free download of it.
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On Volcano – “Acceleration Of Heartbeat”
On Volcano – “Ume Blossoms”
On Volcano – “The Explorer”
On Volcano – “Mission”
