Friday, May 01, 2009
Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love
Stephen McBean's Pink Mountaintops musically counterweights the prog/Sabbath riff-rich rock of his other band, Black Mountain. Originally the sexier of the two franchises (you get the anatomical allusion, right), Pink Mountaintops dirty blues rock has slowly ingested a wider range of influences, toning down its previous testosterone posturing for a gentler combination of ramshackle folk and ethereal psychedelia. The title track "Outside Love" slinks by with the sex melancholy and fuzzed out guitars of a Mazzy Star ballad, only to be followed by "And I Thank You", a lo-fi alt-country slow swagger that hints at Gram Parson and Emmy Lou Harris, with their final track "Closer To Heaven" resembling a dusty serenade by the Psychedelic Furs. The only suggestion of Pink Mountaintops previous muscle is the uptempo, noisy boogie of "The Gayest Of Sunbeams", which may cause a sigh of nostalgia for their first album. Either way, Stephen McBean's rich voice is remarkably flexible for any number of musical settings. A good listen from start to finish.
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