Carbon Copy

by Volcano, I’m Still Excited!!

Track listing: Carbon Copy, The New Brad, Durham, 2nd Gun, Trunk of My Car

"A bass player away from being the greatest band on the road" came to my mind after my first Volcano, I'm Still Excited!! show. But with an EP to deliberate over and some time to soak it all in, these guys do just fine despite the low frequency absence. Carbon Copy, a five-song venture in a drastically new direction from songwriter Mark Duplass' former acoustic singer/songwriter reputation.

Volcano explores tonal scarcity while simultaneously filling listeners' expectations with their innovative lyrics and creative songwriting tactics. "Carbon Copy" is a melancholic dirge, assuming you can envision a Casio keyboard soundtrack to a funeral. But as the song builds, the expected spectoreqsque stereophonic crash consists merely of a John Thomas Robinette III bass drum kick and cymbal crash. Then it's back to the march, pounding out mysterio chords 'til the song's end.

The EP's middle three songs we will leave for your judgment because the fifth track, "Trunk of My Car" deserve special attention. The "Trunk..." recording, and even more so its live rendition, sold me on Volcano. After a decade of watching bands in clubs there had not been a group or song that blew me away as much as this song, its Row-Your-Boat simplicity merged with a Phishy "Bouncing Around the Room" complexity truly breaks new songwriting ground.

Volcano, I'm Still Excited!! recently signed a deal with Polyphonic Records, so Carbon Copy's follow-up is due out in the near future. Find it. Buy it. Without listing to a note, Coyote Music will offer a money back guarantee to all dissatisfied buyers (no fair copying the disc before we buy it back!). Make checks payable to Coyote Music and we'll send you a refund in 2-3 weeks. We won't have any takers, though, because whether or not you think they need a bassist Volcano, I'm Still Excited!! will grab-and hold on to-the attention they so well deserve.

Posted on 10/29/03