Volplane >> It burns through me

Volplane - "Lost In Blue" (a.k.a. "I Want This Dream")

(Flight Approved Records, 1997)

I found out about Volplane when someone in AOL's Indie Rock chatroom told me about them in early 2003 and said I might like them.  I checked them out, loved the few songs I heard (including this one), and then almost immediately interviewed them for my online zine.  I was informed that they had changed their drummer and adopted the new name Bright Channel, so it technically was a Bright Channel interview.  The word volplane is a verb meaning "To glide toward the earth in an airplane with the engine cut off."

This song hypnotized my brain from the first few seconds, and still blows me away with its darkly creeping, trancelike menace.  For only a 3-minute song, it sure is a harrowing journey.  Singer / guitarist Jeff Suthers' androgynous, soothing vocals, crying out like an ant trapped in amber, are the perfect foil for the forlorn, hypothermia-inducing music.  The production values are pretty incredible for a self-recorded song, with a womblike warmth borne out of tons of reverb.  I like how the phrase "I want this dream to be" has no ending, so one is left to decide what exactly he is trying to say.  "Wash Away," "Two Worlds" and "Tear In Two" are my other favorite Volplane tunes, with "Wash Away" being particularly mind-blowing, easily one of the best pure shoegaze songs ever made.  According to their website, "From 1997-1999, Volplane forged ahead and spent the larger part of two years in their home studio recording what should have been two records that were never officially released: Volplane and Merlot.  In 2006, Flight Approved Records released a limited edition CD-R retrospective with some of the band’s favorite tracks from [those two albums]."  The retrospective is simply titled 1997-1999, is quite stunning, and can be bought on iTunes.  "Lost In Blue" (I seem to remember it was titled "I Want This Dream" when I downloaded it in 2003) and "Wash Away" were on Volplane.  The (proposed?) cover art for Volplane is identical to the cover of 1997-1999, but solarized (a reverse negative image), and with no writing at the bottom:

As a an obsessive fan of shoegaze / dream pop guitar styles, I can say without hesitation that Jeff Suthers is a master of this art, coaxing out some of the most spacey, psychedelic and eerie tones ever, all in the relative obscurity of Denver, Colorado.

Excellent photo with San Francisco as a backdrop; presumably taken at Kirby Cove in Marin County, ca. 1984. Compare to the top photo here.

Planets with similar climates: Bethany Curve - "Long Beach" (2001), Colfax Abbey - "Once In A While" (1996), Sonic Youth - "Shadow Of A Doubt" (1986), Juned - "Titanic" (1995), The Comsat Angels - "I Come From The Sun" (1992), Catherine Wheel - "Tongue Twisted" (1993).


Eating or drinking over the last week: Rouses eggplant parmesan; Synergy Mystic Mango kombucha tea; Alo Coco Exposed coconut water; Winn-Dixie cornbread; Rouses garlic rosemary red onion focaccia; Samuel Adams Black Lager; Flavors Of Greece roasted eggplant spread; Clowson Cotswold gloucester cheese w/ onions & chives.  And of course the Guinness Draught vs. Murphy's Stout comparison I mentioned last time.