The Volcano Diary: The Volcano Diary (2010)

 

Tal y como relatamos hace poco, en la escena musical norteamericana hay una cierta saturación en lo que al panorama Folkie se refiere. Esto es así en tanto que no volvemos la vista hacia las listas especializadas en Country o en Folk, porque si no entonces la sobreexposición sería brutal. Evidentemente, esto no quiere decir que de vez en cuando aparezcan nuevos grupos o solistas como en el caso que nos encontramos, que de alguna manera reinventen ese sonido algo trillado al que muchos conocen como Americana. The Volcano Diary tienen visos de alejarse algo de los convencionalismos del género, y han concebido un álbum de debut titulado The Volcano Diary (2010), en el que exploran en el mundo de los sentimientos con un sonido digamos que Electro-Acústico, creando una musicalidad propia y dotando a sus canciones de una sonoridad personal (Error message, Freezeburn, Volcano, Revival). A ello ha contribuido sin duda la producción de Steve Fisk (Nirvana, Pigeonhead), quien ha dotado al disco de una sobriedad y un porte realmente notable. La personal voz de Alicia Dara y la instrumentación de sus acompañantes hacen el resto. La colección de canciones no desentona en ningún momento, y los tracks se suceden en el reproductor con total naturalidad.

The Volcano Diary – The Volcano Diary (2010)

“As soon as you hear a band is from the Seattle music scene, you immediately think of the grunge-era bands from the 1990’s. While that may be an accurate comparison for some bands, it’s unfair to categorize ALL bands from Seattle this way. It just doesn’t do them justice. This is the case for the lovely band The Volcano Diary. Though being produced by the well-know Steve Fisk, who has produced for Nirvana and Pigeonhed, The Volcano Diary, has created their own sound. With beautiful vocal harmonies, and haunting electo-acoustics, their self-titled debut album is quite the introduction to vocalist, Alicia Dara, and her talented bandmates.
The album opens with the breezy “Revival.” Its brisk, acoustic riff is both striking and memorable. It sounds like a Bat for Lashes, Cat Power hybrid. The chorus will stay with you, using lower vocal tones to add depth and the song doesn’t try to do too much. By doing so the musicians allow the music to stand alone. It’s understated, humble but incredibly moving. Dara’s voice gives you the impression that though she’s young, she’s an old soul.
The alt-country presence is big in “Freezerburn.” “I keep waking up in a hurricane, with no one else to blame,” sings Dara. It’s a song showing the fickleness in us all. And it rings true for all of us young lovers. The song moves us into “Lightening Seed.” Here Dara transcends some Joni Mitchell with her folky vocals. The song changes when electronic synths come in moving the folk sound into modernity. The result is gorgeous. It’s like floating on clouds.
“Pacifica” brings us back to the alt-country sound combined with a bluesy vibe. It’s a southern bluegrass song with female power breathed into it. There is some sort of wonder held in the chorus of “Pacifica.” The scale upward gives us the feeling that we are on the verge of something big.
“Cloud Cover” is a travel song for the heavy hearts. It sounds like the wind passing through a wheat field. It’s rough and tumble, but also very sweet. It’s about wanting to be home amongst the strange and wild. Dara’s voice is at her most dreamy and stunning here.
“Nashville” and “Burning Hands” breathes of desire and longing. These and the track “Error Message” sound so similar that they run together. It was strange that I didn’t notice the track had changed between these three until I looked. The album closes with the acoustic “Volocano.” It’s a wind down track that’s just a lovely example of the beauty in Dara’s voice and the acoustics on this entire album” (staticmultimedia.com)

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