Seattle’s Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band arrived last month, amidst a surprising combination of hype, ambiguity and anticipation. On July 31, the day of their first live performance ever, the band was featured on Stereogum as a “Band to Watch.” The post talked about the band’s music (”We’ve been enjoying their self-released Weepy EP, so we thought we’d post something from it”), family ties and homemade PSA videos, but didn’t really address the phenomenon of the new band. Stereogum reader teh206 put it best, responding: “wait. they’re ‘from seattle’ but their first show in seattle was last night? who did they blow in order to get talked about on stereogum before they even played a show in their hometown?” Good point. To get a grasp on the mechanism behind the meteoric rise of the Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Sound has put together a handy timeline:

April 2, 2008: MSHVB posts a YouTube video titled “Homeostasis,” the first of a series of homemade public service announcement-style would-be viral videos. The videos features 13-year-old drummer Marcus Verdoes, ostensibly educating the audience about the dangers of doing nothing. “Homeostasis” has already racked up more than 2,500 views.

May 27, 2008: The Stranger writes a confused post on LineOut about Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band, prompting an entertaining slew of comments of frustration and excitement for the project. Also, speculation about that iconic curtain.

May 28, 2008: The Walrus writes about MSHVB, focusing more on the unanswered questions and what the band was busy creating, exclaiming, “So, what to do they really sound like?? Are they the next Black Sabbath? The new Devo? Well, there is no audio to be found on their MySpace Page, but the band is currently recording with Scott Colburn, the engineer behind Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible and Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam. We’ll find out soon enough! Stay tuned!!”

June 6, 2008: A random, bizarre news brief about the band surfaces on cable TV’s The Current. Be warned, this video is ridiculous.

June 26, 2008: Seattle Subsonic tastefully blogs about the band, simply stating when the first show will be.

July 19, 2008: The band performs on KEXP’s Audioasis (photos here).

July 29, 2008: Leading up to the band’s debut performance at Neumo’s, The Stranger runs a story about the band creating a buzz via self-promotion.

July 31, 2008: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam plays its debut live show, a headlining performance at Neumos. Donning matching floral family attire, the group did have a hint of modern Partridge Family going on, and there was even a guy in the crowd countering the girls screaming drummer’s name, “Marshall!” at the top of their lungs by screaming out random names of Brady Bunch kids. “Marcia!” “Jan!” It’s unclear whether Marshall is Benjamin Verdoes’ adopted son or brother, but either way the kid can play the drums. And is the unofficial (or maybe official, for all we know) mascot of MSHVB. The band is also Benjamin’s wife, Traci, and other ex-In Praise of Folly members Matthew Dammer and Jared Price.

The contrast with the other bands playing the show was pretty interesting as Seattle band “Awesome” opened the show showcasing its big band-feel and array of instruments, like the accordion and mandolin. And catchy Seattle pop band BOAT, whose members humbly took the stage after arranging their on-stage set up themselves, playing their hearts out and seemingly, having the best time doing it.

After the endearingly fun-filled set from BOAT, the lights dimmed and the suspense began as a thick layer of the excitement set in the air for the unveiling of MSHVB, and it was painfully overplayed, especially after the refreshing set that just ended. The performance was impressive, with a great deal of musical talent, songs filled with upbeat and ever-changing tempos and ear-catching vocal harmonies, along with a surefire stage presence. Headlining the show to a decently packed crowd (440 tickets sold) at Neumo’s, it could have easily been forgotten that it was the band’s first show ever.

But don’t take our word for it-judge for yourself by watching grainy concert footage from the show!

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band is playing a few shows at the end of August, including opening for Man Man and The Walkmen in Vancouver, BC on Aug. 28. The band also just put out a self-released four-song EP, Weepy. For more information, join its legions of fans at MySpace.