Volcano The Bear - Five Hundred Boy Piano

For some time now Volcano The Bear have been creating quite a stir in avant garde and experimental circles. Five Hundred Boy Piano is their 4th full release - discounting numerous short run CD-Rs - and their second on Steven Stapleton's United Dairies label. Their off-kilter sound takes its cues from avant garde, free jazz, folk, improvisation and experimental music yet it is the percussive devices, bowed, bashed, and tinkered that provides Five Hundred Boy Piano with some skewed semblance of cohesion. With a nod and a wink, Volcano The Bear display a childlike charm with their surreal mischief utilising everything from tin whistles, banjos and other stringed instruments and an assortment of sound devices. It's perhaps their approach of combining the familiar with the offbeat that make Volcano The Bear so exciting to many. Five Hundred Boy Piano appears more vocal than earlier efforts perhaps borne out of their intensive live shows but they do still sound like an asylum based choir on day release. Housed in a sleeve showcasing the varied artwork of the entire band, plus some new Steven Stapleton artwork, it amply demonstrates why Volcano The Bear remain Leicester's finest. For more information go to www.brainwashed.com/vtb