Truth is MM was pretty ambivalent about the debut album by The Mt St Helens Vietnam Band. It was solid certainly, good without being memorable enough to make us want to hit repeat very often. However, the two tracks we have been sent in advance of follow-up Where The Messengers Meet are a different beast altogether.

Both songs, the new single Hurrah, and Leaving Trails are excellent examples of dramatic guitar-led indie rock that you just don’t hear very often nowadays. Furthermore, it isn’t afraid of an artistic or even an orchestral flourish or two.

In fact listening to it, the guitars on Leaving Trails reminded us in places of one of U2’s rare decent songs I Will Follow. No doubt other comparisons will suggest Arcade Fire (after all what doesn’t these days), but these are much better songs than that lazy reference deserves, and we will certainly be looking out for the album on Dead Oceans when it is released on August 3rd.

Visit their MySpace here.

Download The Mt St Helens Vietnam Band – Hurrah mp3 (from Where The Messengers Meet)

Download The Mt St Helens Vietnam Band – Leaving Trails mp3 (from Where The Messengers Meet)