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Concert Sat Dec 05 2009
volcano! Erupts at The Hideout Tonight
volcano! is pretty much my favorite band. Their music is performed with such intensity that it wavers like a skateboard going down a hill that is too steep, too quickly. It oscillates between tension and release in a way that makes me feel like cheese being pushed through a cheese-grater. In a good way.
Aaron With bellows and coos while he vigorously strums his guitar. His voice is twisty and operatic. He sings about work, pop culture, and sex, among other things. In one of volcano!'s many gems, "Slow Jam," from 2008's Paperwork, he sounds just like Prince, belting out: "Oooooh, you like it early, and I like it late 'n you don't like it when I take the bate, got me hidin' the cookies. Oh let's poke a hole in this balloon animal. It's the elephant trunk in the room."
Sam Scranton gallops through with drums, making rythyms that wind between offbeats, somehow always remaining danceable. Mark Cartwright glues it together with electronic feedback, animal samples, and bass-heavy breakbeats--my favorite one being in the outro of the amazing "Africa Just Wants to Have Fun."
volcano!'s new songs vary both from each other and within themselves. Spanish Ballads turn into R&B songs. Some songs sound more like that good 90's indie rock. The style seems informed by Chicago tradition, in a Kinsella/Albini kind of way, but instead of running parallel to tradition, it winds around it, creating new hybrid sounds. Originality is a difficult thing to achieve these days, so I tip my hat to volcano! Tap your toes to them tonight at the Hideout. They're playing with Detholz! and A Tundra. The show starts at 9pm and admission is $8.
