Merge to Reissue Volcano Suns Albums in January

Following years of OOP ("out of print”) status, the first two albums by Peter Prescott’s Volcano Suns are being resurrected. On January 27, Merge Records will reissue both 1985’s The Bright Orange Years and the following year’s All Night Lotus Party, the first two long-deleted albums by Prescott’s post-Mission of Burma project.

The two Volcano Sun reissues will mark the first time either have been pressed on CD and come chock full of extras. Along with both being remastered by Bob Weston, the albums will nearly double in length and come boasting rarities, unreleased material and live radio sessions.

On The Bright Orange Years, for example, in addition to the original Homestead tracklisting, version 2009 will add on classic seven-inch-only tracks like "Sea Cruise," "Greasy Spine" and "Tree Stomp," among other impossible-to-find gems. A similar treatment awaits All Night Lotus Party, which even gets a reworking of its hidden track, now titled "superhappyfunmysterybonustrack2009.”

For those unfamiliar with the Volcano Suns, here’s a little glowing praise courtesy of the press release:

"Both these albums are irresistible rock documents of a band at its vigorous, pulsating best. This was the era when hardcore was hardening into a parody and the good bands were breaking up or going metal; when Sonic Youth and Big Black were bringing a darker, harder sound to the underground; when West Coast bands like Tex & The Horseheads were debuting the awful genre of ‘cowpunk’...

"Compared to a contemporary band like the Replacements, hyped at the time, there was too much going on at once — then, as now, there's no room in the cultural zeitgeist for artists who straddle genres and fail to fit into an obvious niche. Here's an opportunity to make up for that neglect.” Now that the press release has hopefully done its job of piquing your interests, here are the tracklistings:

The Bright Orange Years

1. "Jak download”
2. "Descent into Hell”
3. "Truth Is Stranger than Fishing”
4. "Balancing Act”
5. "Promise Me”
6. "(I'm Gonna) Make You Mine”
7. "Cover”
8. "The Mouth that Roared”
9. "Cornfield”
10. "Animals”
11. "It's Stewtime”
12. "Silvertone” *
13. "Sea Cruise” *
14. "Greasy Spine” *
15. "Tree Stomp” *
16. "Nature and Me” *
17. "Old Paint” *
18. "The Central” *
19. "Local Wise Man” *
20. "Testify” (Live on WERS) *
21. "1999” (Live on WERS) *

All Night Lotus Party

1. "White Elephant download”
2. "Cans”
3. "Room with a View”
4. "Blown Stack”
5. "Engines”
6. "Walk Around”
7. "Sounds Like Bucks”
8. "Four Letters”
9. "Dot on the Map”
10. "Village Idiot”
11. "Ride the Cog”
12. "Polythene Pam / Greasy Spine” *
13. "Journey to the Center of the Mind” *
14. "Jazz Odyssey” *
15. "Walk Around Dub” *
16. "Sounds Like Bucks” * (Live on WERS)
17. "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” *
18. "Time Off” *
19. "Magic Sky” *
20. "Curse of the Name” *
21. "Junior” *
22. "superhappyfunmysterybonustrack2009” *

* Bonus Track