Volcano Choir – Repave

If there is one thing that Justin Vernon apparently does not do, and that is sit still....
Volcano Choir : Repave
9.0 Jagjaguwar
2013 

Volcano Choir : RepaveIf there is one thing that Justin Vernon apparently does not do, and that is sit still.  Few musicians these days are as active as he.  Volcano Choir is just one of several side projects he maintains in his downtime from his main act, Bon Iver (QRO live review).  One of his other bands, The Shouting Matches, also released their debut album earlier this year (QRO review) where he explored the more blues influenced territory you hear hints of in Bon Iver’s music.  With Volcano Choir, Vernon explores the more indie-ambient sound that is a bit more prominent in his main act.  However, even though he will undoubtedly command a lot of the attention, in Volcano Choir Vernon is merely one equal part of a six-man band.  The rest of the troupe comes from other musical acts such as Collections of Colonies of Bees and All Tiny Creatures.

A lot of side projects only exist long enough to spit out one album and perhaps a tour along with it and then they peter out.  Apparently Volcano Choir’s first album struck enough of a chord that it seemed worth the members congregating again to see what they could come up with for round two.

That first album, Unmap, was released in 2009 and was more of a Postal Service-esque endeavor, in that it was largely written and created from afar with members bouncing material back and forth to each other.  At that point in their existence, Volcano Choir was more of a collection of friends finding a common ground on which to be free from expectations and the pressures of their other projects in order to see what they were capable of creating.  This time around with Repave they acted very much as a ‘band’ as it is traditionally defined in that they physically came together to both write and record the album.  It is clear with Repave that this method produces vastly more powerful results for these guys than their old way of doing things.  It feels more balanced – as though there isn’t just one guy pulling all the strings.

From start to finish, Repave is a good and often great album.  To call out just a few of the great tracks: album opener “Tiderays” does an incredible job of demonstrating the build and is a great way to lay the groundwork for the rest of the album, lead single “Byegone” is just a really emotionally-driven rocking song, and “Alaskans” (as many of the songs that Justin Vernon is involved with) will immediately put you in mind of some fond time and place in your life, period.

The titles of the two Volcano Choir albums are rather fitting when you really think about it.  Unmap represented – and very much was – a period of experimentation whereas Repave represents the focused future.  It’s almost as though the band is saying, “Okay.  We have seen what we are capable of when we are half-focused, now, let’s fully focus and aim for the stars.”  As cheesy as that might sound, they achieved that goal and then some.

Volcano Choir – Byegone

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