There's something immortal about the golden era of high school movies and TV shows - a solid block of hyper-American 90s and early 00s dramedies that shaped, for better or worse, how a generation parsed teenhood and the idea of growing up. There were the pop-infused Brat Pack movies, the early edginess of Degrassi Junior High and My So-Called Life, and the cult classic Freaks and Geeks; we have Clueless, Cruel Intentions, 10 Things I Hate About You. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, beloved by so many, remains the last line of defence for Joss Whedon apologists. These projects didn't just have exceptionally savvy audio direction, but a genuine understanding of music as a narrative transceiver in a formative period when you're figuring out how to exist in a body and a world that doesn't become you.
It's usually not clear, fully-formed memories that bring you back to high school's greatest hits. Sometimes all it takes is a tiny sensorial cue - a whiff of bad cologne, or the way the sun hits your street in the evening. But more often than not, it's music. It's a riff, a vocal hook, a melody, a track on your Discman when your parents argued in the car. It was a taut, rollicking rhythm that gave you enough momentum to shake off the real world for a few minutes, the first big hit from a small local band, or the song everyone was into that summer when it was so hot that your friend's hula girl bobblehead melted on the car dashboard. The best coming-of-age soundtracks are powerful for a reason; the magic that swirls around first bands and the raw energy of young songwriting even more so.
Goodbye Volcano High takes this unquantifiable high school vibe, drenches it in exquisitely catchy power-pop, and creates an absolute belter of a story that marries slice-of-life dinosaur teendom with a slow, inescapable horror. For protagonist Fang, heading back to school is complicated. It's the start of senior year, and they've had a pretty rough summer, albeit one where they gave themselves a sweet new makeover that feels more like a low-key suit of armour. They've been writing new music for their band Worm Drama, determined to go on tour after graduation without realising that their bandmates have slightly different priorities. Fang worries their parents aren't fully in sync with their goal as a musician with no plans for college; they've also relatively recently come out as non-binary. All this tumult is compounded by looming disaster - not entirely surprising if you're familiar with the fate of the dinosaurs, but devastating all the same.
source https://www.eurogamer.net/goodbye-volcano-high-review
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