Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Tiny Volcano profile

Tiny Volcano is old school. And I’m ashamed to say I just found out about them less than a week ago. Scott McPherson, the main man in Tiny Volcano, informs me the genesis of the band was back in 1995, when his previous band, the Liar’s Club, folded their tent. Of course, perhaps I can be excused for missing out on them for some of those years since he also informs me the band didn’t fully coalesce until 2000 and released their debut record in 2003.

However, that still leaves me 3 years behind the times, which is marginally less embarrassing. But, that does mean I’ve been missing out on their pure pop sound for longer than I should have!

Fortunately for them, the rest of the world has not been as in the dark as I. Their 2003 release got great reviews from notlame, Popbang, Gods of Music and so on. When asked what sort of unexpected results came from the reviews, Scott said, “Hmm, well, Tiny Volcano was offered a lot of film work, or soundtrack stuff. Weird huh? The great reviews really introduced us to the underground pop world of Southern California, which is massive BTW, and that was a very big plus...as they seemed to embrace us. Very cool.”

So, what does Tiny Volcano sound like? A lot of familiar pop touchstones are here. You’ll hear elements of Jellyfish, Crowded House and XTC. Brian Wilson and 70s am radio inform the arrangements. But, it’s still fresh and doesn’t sound retro. I say pick up the record or head to their myspace page to give a listen.

Scott says he’s “still waiting on a wave of mega power pop to ride on in” to Seattle (so are we, my friend!!). But, he sites Jet City Fix and The Degree’s as some of his local faves. You can find Tiny Volcano around Seattle at their favorite clubs, Show Box and the Crocodile. But, in particular, watch for them on the bill in August when the International Pop Overthrow comes to town.

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