Friday 05.28.10: Echo & Club Underground present FROG EYES / MOUNT ST HELEN’S VIETNAM BAND @ echo

frog-eyes

Frog Eyes definitely exist within that definition, the music resembling Wolf Parade but with a greater awareness of space. Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph is less frantic than previous record Tears Of The Valedictorian. It sees them revel in the journey. It also puts the vocals at the core of their sound. Without lyric sheets it’s hard to say exactly what is going on here with the words, strangled as they are in guttural yelps and off beat accenting. It ends up naturally distorting the words. Carey Mercer’s voice is the fulcrum around which everything else happens. The guitars and drums and keys are built around the echoes and the layers, the whoops and stutters. These songs aren’t sung. They’re performed. Mercer lives his vocals, and brings what could be flat indie into vivid, vibrant Technicolor. It might be pretentious to say it, but the performance is almost operatic. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band