The Leaf Lab

Listening to volcano! is a journey through highs and lows, through confusion and clarity. Like much of their work, ‘Apple Or A Gun’ (the first single from their groundbreaking debut album Beautiful Seizure), refuses to be pigeonholed, or indeed easily comprehended on first listen. But it will repay your attention a hundredfold. With dramatic stylistic shifts and a typically ambitious arrangement, the song veers from delicate to possessed in the blink of an eye. Lucid but anarchic, never allowing the listener a moment to relax. Yet despite the apparent chaos, melody is never sacrificed. The single is backed with a recording of a live favourite that will only ever appear on this release: ‘I’ve Been Loving You Since Desert Storm’.

I Used To Try is the second single by Lancashire born and bred Nancy Elizabeth. With shimmering dulcimer and sparse, booming percussion, ‘I Used To Try’ is a forceful statement of independence. “I like my world/’cause it’s mine”: the song’s strident declarations are proudly unforgiving. ‘In The Morning’ (which is exclusive to this single) is more contemplative, just Nancy’s delicate piano and down-to-earth, unaffected vocals.

The lead single from volcano!’s second album, Paperwork, 'Africa Just Wants To Have Fun' demonstrates a more playful, immediate side to the band, while clinging to the unpredictability and originality that defines their sound. The song is a razor-sharp satire of certain rock stars who purport to save the world with dubious, self-serving rhetoric. Backed by Mark Cartwright (bass, electronics) and Sam Scranton (percussion), vocalist Aaron With’s lyric is a searing indictment of the misguided philanthropic attitude of participants in everything from Band Aid to the [Red] campaign, ending with the candid admission “I don’t know what to do / But I know what not to do”.

Jherek Bischoff: Eyes/Young & Lovely [Vinyl 7"]