mt.st.helens, Of Others

Somebody somewhere is in their room with mt.st.helens’ latest CD Of Others just playing on repeat, and they’re thinking, “mt.st.helens is the greatest,” in typical cult follower, rabid fan fashion. And then they’re scratching their heads and wondering why the rest of the world isn’t getting it. If you’re looking for instant gratification and accessibility, move on — this CD is not for you. (Consult your FM dial for your area’s conglomerate-owned stations polluting your frequencies. Sorry, that’s some Houston bitterness seeping out.) But if you want something to dig into and study and even broaden your musical horizons, grab Of Others , because there’s nothing like it stored on your iPod.

At first listen, it’s interesting and mysterious but not graspable for me. But give this CD, say, three listens, and you’ll be hooked and unfolding the CD cover trying to figure out the lyrics, wanting to know more about what you’ve just discovered. mt.st.helens is not easily classifiable; in fact, they tend to get lumped in with other bands that aren’t easily classified, like Shudder to Think.

For one, the songs are free-form, going where they want to, disregarding the memorized rock formulas. And yet, the songs are still normal length, with most songs around four minutes long. The sound is dark and murky, with echoing, flange-effected guitars that seem to be emanating out of some mysterious canyon. The guitar work is excellent, and is backed by the solid, deep rhythms of the bass, drums, and percussion. Add to that some occasional keys, melodica, and a cello on a few tracks. The vocals range from calculated yelps to smooth singing by vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Quinn Goodwillie, who is the perfect guide to (or perhaps “person to be held responsible for”) this trip to an almost different dimension.

Honestly, I’ve grown to like every song on the CD. “Seething is Believing” became my favorite track early on; it’s haunting, with smooth vocals, foggy guitars, and a turn-around bassline. The song references some old Chicago lore with the lyrics, to boot: “I took the hand of fragile Inez Clarke / and she walked beside me / Unaware of life lost long ago / Dead in 1880.” For the trivia-lovers: Inez Clarke, a six-year old buried and memorialized with a statue, has been rumored to haunt a Chicago graveyard and scared the bejeebers out of a night watchman one night.

I came to realize, though, that the culmination of this CD is the song “The Drink,” which may in fact be where the odd album cover comes from, but in the song itself, “the drink” seems to be meaning “lake.” I say that because the song calls on another Chicago tale about the stormy shipwreck of the Material Service barge in 1936. The guitar work channels up the feel of fog rising up off Lake Michigan in anticipation. Then, at the peak of the song, guitarist Mike Sprague launches into an anthemic riff that’s like bagpipes echoing over the stormy lake that’s just finished claiming the vessel. Freakin’ gives me chills every time I listen. And Goodwillie deftly paints the whole picture lyrically: “You really should be running straight out of here / Make like a sad apparition and disappear / And sink like Material Service into Great Lake sand / And take a ride up to Foster and get washed in / To the drink / I guess the basic idea was to disappear / Put on maritime camouflage and reemerge / A freshwater specter of a man long past / Risen from steely submission and a captain’s commitment / To the drink.”

If they get you on those those two songs, then mt.st.helens has you onboard for good; after that, the CD then launches into the thick-grooved, quickly likeable song “City Of,” rolls along with “Strange Navigation,” and makes a savage assault as the band slays and conquers with the song “Centicorn” (with songs like this, MSH should have a devoted following with the comic book/RPG crowd). Then the CD concludes with a sorta-murky samba on “Interruption,” which MSH makes its own before charging into an amped-up, mosh-worthy ending.

Needless to say, I really like this CD. It’s brilliant, heady stuff. Of Others is mt.st.helens’ third album, and they’ve been around for nine years, sticking it out and letting their sound mature; it makes you wish more bands would do the same. But perhaps most bands aren’t gifted with abilities quite at the heights of mt.st.helens’ (sorry, I had to do it!).