Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are an act who have just come to my attention thanks to the re-release of their deeply personal EP, Prehistory.

By Graeme Smith

Though new to us, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are not without a following. Once signed to Dead Oceans, things were looking bright for them before things came crashing down. Not discouraged, singer and writer Benjamin Verdoes was able to salvage this EP. Previously shared in a limited way, it’s now finally getting the light it deserves on streaming services via Jenny Invert Records.

As a result, the EP feels both old and new. We are invited to experience the band at their height while also hearing them for the first time. The experience is helped by the addition of previously unreleased demo Held Me which acts as both an Easter egg for long term fans and a final twist for the collection’s story.

It’s a story told over six tracks that take us on an emotional journey from the minimal and bluesy opening of Best Bet to the urgent rock of We Won’t Change to the sultriness of album closer Hold Me. We get plenty of musical twists, with disorientating layered moments sitting alongside the melodic and dreamy. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are a band with a sound quite unlike all others and genre-wise it’s difficult to label. Post rock rubs shoulders with traditional indie and folksy undercurrents.

Perhaps what stands out the most, though, are the lyrics. They are rich with imagery and delivered convincingly by passionate, pleading vocals. Hopeful and romantic moments like The Day are contrasted nicely by biting social commentary like Hollywood and the soft melancholia of Warm Body.

It’s so fortunate that this EP wasn’t lost to the annals of time. It truly is a triumph and will perhaps give Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band the attention they deserve.

Prehistory was recorded at the UNKNOWN in Ancortes, outside Seattle, USA by Trevor Spencer. It’s available to buy as a digital album on Bandcamp and you can give it a listen below.