VOLCANOES

FOR FANS OF: Death From Above 1979, Sliegh Bells, Parts and Labor

"One short year ago, St. Louisans Jon Ryan (bass/drums/keys) and Eric Peters (drums,keys,vocals) played in a math-rock trio the Futurepast, and Volcanoes were their just-for-fun side project. "We recorded Volcanoes' first EP in our dorm room," Peters recalls. "We had a six-foot bunk-bed loft-thing over the drums that we hung mics and cables from. When the recording took over our room, [there were] wires and pedals everywhere you stepped." When the Futurepast's third member spontaneously went to Lebanon to work as a missionary, the duo made Volcanoes their first priority. After spending most of 2011 self-producing Heavy Hands, Volcanoes evolved into a must-see live act and signed to Minneapolis label Afternoon Records. "This is our first foray into making music people actually like," Ryan says. "We stopped caring about making complicated songs that you have to read into. We try to play energetic music that you can dance to. It's actually pretty simple." [RW] - Alternative Press

"What hit me like a 63 degree day in January was the sheer energy of opening act Volcanoes, a St. Louis buzz band and newest Afternoon Records signee. The bass, drums and sometimes synthesizer-welding duo of Jon Ryan and Eric Peters exuded a sweaty, post-punk weirdness that lived up to the hype. Their set felt like an indie dance rock song run through an electronic grinder, sending pieces of screaming vocals and peaking bass riffs all over the place. Volcanoes first song "Omnivore" was loud, fast and aggressive -- everything a punk song should be. Peter's vocals fell somewhere between screaming and talking, complemented by delightfully dark lyrics.
"The Creature" showcased Ryan's thick fuzzed bass lines with Peter's frantic snare fills, recalling the attitude of French band Death From Above 1979. Third song "And Then We Destroyed Each Other" killed it with hard-hitting pauses and skittering hi-hat hits, causing some of Volcanoes highly-energized fans to hardcore two-step in the punk tradition." - KDHX.org

Many college kids form bands to pass the extra time while studying to enter the real world, yet very few aim or expect to take their act past the dorm rooms and Solo-cup-littered basement shows. This is not the case for Jon Ryan and Eric Peters of noise-rock band Volcanoes. Ryan and Peters signed to Afternoon Records late last year, making them another St. Louis band branching beyond the local scene. Volcanoes started in a dorm room, where its first EP was written and recorded. That was also the venue for the band's first packed shows. The drum-and-bass duo is taking its act and recent full-length Heavy Hands beyond its Lindenwood stomping grounds, touring as far as New York. If noise rock is what the kids are craving these days, then Volcanoes knows how to bring it to them. While this may be the end of the dorm shows, Volcanoes' sets still terrorize listeners' ears every time it takes a stage of any size. - The Riverfront Times

"Meet Volcanoes, the drum and bass duo whose shitkicking noise rock has taken seismic toll on the eardrums of St. Louis' underground enthusiasts. Jon Ryan and Eric Peters are probably the most badass act to come out of St. Charles in quite some time, and definitely the most badass thing to ever come out of Lindenwood University."

-The Riverfront Times (Diana Benanti) - The Riverfront Times