Anyone who lived in Glasgow in the early 2000s will remember Volcanic Tongue, the astute record shop that introduced me and many others to challenging music. They closed their doors in 2015 and to coincide with the 20th anniversary of their opening, co-founder David Keenan has curated a compilation for Disciples. Called Volcanic Tongue – A Time-Travelling Evangelist’s Guide to Late 20th Century Underground Music, it includes 20 tracks from artists who have helped shape the contemporary scene, like Circuit Des Yeux and Sachiko. But also forgotten obscurities like The Bachs from the US, A to Austr from England and Fille Qui Mousse from France.
A group like Vox Populi (also from France) have received considerable attention since the days of Volcanic Tongue, and are also included. Personal faves like Scotland’s own Scrotum Poles and ESP Kinetic also make this an essential release. It came out in March alongside a book by Keenan with the same title, which gathers writings from an era.
The store, that was operated together with Heather Leigh, was actually the one who introduced Cassette Store Day, before it became a thing in 2013. Seeing that entrance brings a fuzzy feeling of home to my mind. There’s still this great interview with Keenan from 2015 when they closed the shop in It’s Psychedelic Baby. I highly recommend reading it, as it also reflects our ethos. Keenan says:
“Critique, however, is of little interest to me, ultimately. I prefer to simply ignore what I don’t like or doesn’t interest me and surround myself with my passions. I prefer building up to knocking down.”
