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Boston’s VOLCANO SUNS was led by PETER PRESCOTT after the original breakup of MISSION OF BURMA. The Suns made several albums for a variety of indie labels over the course of a half dozen years; amazingly, this is the first time either of the band’s first two albums, originally released on Homestead in the mid-80s, have been on CD.
The Bright Orange Years gets the trio (Prescott, guitarist JON WILLIAMS, bassist JEFF WEIGAND) off to a fine start, with catchy melodies that have more in common with the Midwest than the Northeast given roughhewn performances. Prescott’s lyrics revolve around the everyday lives of the average guy, without an ounce of pretentiousness. There’s little of Burma’s avant-garde tendencies on display here, with the emphasis on simply playing tunes like “Jak,” “Sea Cruise” and “Descent Into Hell” as if the world might end at any moment. The disk tacks on a big scoop of bonus cuts, all of them as good as the stuff in the main album, ending with a loving thrash through the PRINCE tune “1999.”
All Night Lotus Party cranks up the volume, feedback and noise, applying Burmaesque power to the same songwriting style. The vocals often devolve into tuneless shouting or shaky harmonizing, and sometimes the punky overdrive gets in the way of some of the tunes. But overall this is another fine record with irresistible rock ‘n’ poppers like “Walk Around,” “Cans” and the coolly funny “Village Idiot.” Once again, there is a generous selection of bonus tracks, including “Jazz Odyssey” (either a nod to SPINAL TAP or a cover of said band’s tune of the same name – no liner notes on this advance), a ridiculous “dub” version of “Walk Around” and a strangely sincere live take on the sublimely goofy LEONARD NIMOY song “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.”
Hopefully these will be the first in a series of reissues – it would sure would be nice for Thing of Beauty to be out in the world again.
