Where the Messengers Meet

The 2009 self-titled debut by Seattle's Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, was an attractive, if nowhere near completely realized, shambolic intro to a talented group of musicians. On it, they proved they could mine rock & roll's many tropes -- from Lieber & Stoller and Chuck Berry to psych, glam, and indie rock -- paste them together at odd but charming angles, call them original songs, and pull something like an album off -- even if their marketing abilities exceeded their musical ones.Their sophomore effort, Where the Messengers Meet, finds the quartet -- Benjamin Verdoes, Jared Price, Traci Eggelston-Verdoes, and Marshall Verdoes along with friends and guests -- a bit more focused if less ambitious. In other words, you've heard everything here before, as MSHVB reference indie rock acts such as Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade, and Arcade Fire, to name a few. Album opener "At Night" cops a Dead Weather riff -- but it's OK, DW combined stolen ones from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix -- but