The Volcano Diary is a self-described “electro-acoustic” Seattle band led by singer and songwriter Alicia Dara.  While Alicia has been active in the Seattle music scene for many years, The Volcano Diary project only just released its debut album in 2010.  The band’s been playing quite a bit around Seattle in the past several months at venues like Neumo’s, The Sunset and the Skylark Café, but their next big show (and probably one of their biggest so far) will be on Monday, May 30^th at the Folklife Festival.  The band takes the Fountain Lawn stage at 7:30 PM at Seattle Center. 

The band’s self-titled full-length album centers on Dara’s mature, understated vocals, supported by a variety of acoustic and electric arrangements.  Ace producer and Seattle music scene fixture Steve Fisk is undoubtedly due some credit for how great the album sounds—it’s not common that acoustic and electric guitars blend so cohesively while remaining individually audible. Fisk’s production also seems to augment the band’s mostly organic sound with compelling sonic enhancements that aren’t always immediately apparent but often give the sounds a shimmering, sparkling quality. 

Of course, a great producer can only do so much—at the heart of every album is the material and performances themselves.  With most of the songs clocking in under four minutes, The Volcano Diary is definitely a pop-oriented album.  I’ve got a great respect for anyone who can keep the tunes succinct and has the instinct to move things along before any part of a song overstays its welcome.  Likewise, melody is ever-important—Dara and company (Gus Palaskas on guitar and Dave Bush on drums, while we’re discussing the rest of the crew) give us plenty of melodic hooks that groove instantly but contain enough subtlety to unfold further after multiple listens.  Instrumentally, there’s also enough good acoustic strumming as well as some varied finger picking and slide playing on acoustics and electrics to keep the guitar lover in me engaged.

Most of the album is on the mellower side—only a few real ballads, but nothing too aggressive either.  On my first few listens I found myself drawn most to the “rockers” like “Freezerburn” and “Pacifica,” with their more overt hooks, but later spins have found my attention turned to the songwriting craft and clever lyrics of “Error Message” and the atmosphere and longing of the album-closing “Volcano.”  I also have to give the band props for delving into a 5/4 time signature on “Burning Hands”—you don’t see a lot of artists in this type of genre getting experimental with time signatures. 

The album’s sure to open up in a live setting—without the subtle trappings of Fisk’s airy production, the band’s got room to fill the songs with energy, drama and space as they see fit, and it’ll be interesting to see where they take the songs.  I could see the faster tempo songs filling out quite nicely in a nice big venue, while an attentive audience can really turn those emotional quieter songs into magic live moments.  Looking forward to hearing more and more from these guys, and check out their show on Monday—it’s free!