Albums and Abominations

By Benjamin Huber-Rodriguez     9/11/13 7:00pm

Usually, a band's name is some arbitrary inside joke that has little to do with what the band delivers, but occasionally, it offers insight into and a description of the type of content the group produces. If listening to Repave feels like watching a harmonious collective of voices bubble up and explode from within a sulfurous promontory, one can successfully deduce that Volcano Choir has done something right.

Volcano Choir is led by Justin Vernon, who has carved out a niche making haunting, beautiful ballads with introspective but cryptic vocals as Bon Iver. Part of his allure, however, comes from the isolated and shadowy tones through which he delivers his vocals. 

Volcano Choir, his side project/supergroup with fellow Wisconsinites Collections of Colonies of Bees and All Tiny Creatures, begins many of its songs in typical Bon Iver fashion. Looping acoustic patterns, shy synths and hushed drums all contribute to the sonic landscape over which Vernon blows subtle breezes to and fro. But Volcano Choir has too many talented contributors to leave the songs so bare. As the tracks develop, various synths, guitars, organs and drums enter the fray one by one, and vocalists grow exponentially until the songs explode into these grand, majestic statements more appropriate for a vast canyon or amphitheater than the log cabin where Vernon famously recorded his first album.

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"Tiderays" perfectly captures the feel of the album and the band, making it an excellent choice for the opening track. A solo acoustic guitar dances over fuzzy noise while Vernon's trademark falsetto describes a peaceful, cyclical day with a lover. "We wake up / Soft denims on the floor." But the rattle of the snare, subtle at first yet ominously building, breaks the song wide open halfway through as frenzied electric guitars rip apart the tranquil scene in the same way the wall of voices rips apart the lover. "Don't call me up again / You're the bitch that never ends."  Rarely can a band capture the same feeling in both its words and its music as dynamically and effectively as Volcano Choir.

"Comrade," another standout track, allays the listener with three meticulously interwoven guitar and piano patterns, each darting back and forth while Vernon sheepishly pokes at a troubling familial relationship. "You kept me on your long line / Choking it the whole time."  Just as Vernon seems to accept defeat, a hailstorm of synths and electrics rain down on the song in a frenzy while the group assaults with "You said we could go back / You said we could go find / You said that you would come back / Tore out at the comrade!"  

Many tracks paint pictures of landscapes and wilderness, immersing the listener in the exact place and at the exact time the storm that is the song takes place. On "Alaskans," Vernon sings "Stranded in the housing of our move in house in  / We were going to hit every port and every cape town." The mellow, atmospheric tune establishes the vast desert of ice surrounding its encoded story. On "Acetate", the group calls out "You found me on the beach, I was stranded there for weeks!"  while Vernon echos back "I will never tolerize, I will never fortify." The ghastly wails further develop the idea of being stranded, while the piano builds anticipatorily toward the song's eventual climax, when he/they are finally found.

The cover of Repave shows a solitary wave romping over a black ocean under a bleak sky. The image perfectly captures the idea of the calm before the storm, a statement which in turn embodies the album both musically and lyrically. Themes of anger, strife and struggle within relationships are tried and true, but nonetheless resonant enough to be the subject of a staggering proportion of modern music. But projecting a visual topography of this strife and imposing it onto a rush of savage instrumentation is too abstract a concept for most musicians to ever achieve. Perhaps it takes a group that is a manifestation of the force of nature woven with the sheer beauty of harmony. Perhaps it takes a group called Volcano Choir.

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