Paperwork

Arriving in 2005 with an exclamatory bang, sporting an electrifying live set and an audacious debut album in Beautiful Seizure (voted #2 album of 2006 by DiS readers), volcano! cast an eye over the parameters of rock and exponentially expanded them into hitherto unknown regions. After a two-year hiatus, the Chicago trio now stride onwards with a new bounce in their step, and a new cohesive flow to their songs.
“We wanted to be more economical and concise than before, and more importantly to elicit a more intuitive body reaction,” says Aaron With (guitar, vocals) of the songs on Paperwork. “We wrote stuff that we thought would be the most fun to play, and the most fun to listen to, still trying to maintain a balance of melody and noise.”

Accompanied by former high school classmate Sam Scranton (drums, percussion), and college bandmate Mark Cartwright (electronics, bass), the band was initially drawn together by a shared love of music’s outer edges: free-jazz, electronic music, experimental rock. Everything about the new album is leaner and more considered than before, often beginning with simple pop structures and tearing them apart. The ragged, feverish dissonance and bright spaciousness of Aaron’s guitar has much in common with peers like Deerhoof or Dirty Projectors, with more attention placed on the beats and rhythms this time.
“We made an effort to explore the crazy combinations of rhythm that can be found in more basic time signatures,” says Scranton. “Beats that you can feel and bounce to, but also land in unexpected places.”

An exhilarating live band, volcano! will return to Europe for their first live shows in two years in October 2008. It’ll be good to have them back.