Steve McBean is my homeboy. Dude spits out records of worth each and every time. I’ve been with Black Mountain since the beginning, and had the first Pink Mountaintops release in 2004. I bought into it just as much as BM. The lag time between Black Mountain’s eponymous debut and In the Future would have been a much more grueling marathon without the Pink Mountaintops work McBean released. A prolific artist, I suppose, is one who can span multiple genres and create noteworthy art without sticking to securely defined parameters. What’s so refreshing about Pink Mountaintops is that parameters are not even closely defined within its own outfit. Artists typically use the side job as a way to explore new boundaries and sounds. I’d argue, however, that Pink Mountaintops is a successful animal without discussing Black Mountain. Even without the enormous success of his mothership, and although both projects essentially began around the same time, McBean continually impresses with each Pink Mountaintops release. He’s a musician at the top of his game, and Outside Love will prove just that when it’s released on May 5th.
Each Pink Mountaintops release has been a touch different, stylistically meandering as McBean invites casts of friends and family to incorporate psychedelia, folk, and even good old rock n’ roll into extremely divergent tracklists. However, Outside Love, sonically, reads more like a giant narrative, and not many of the songs shift too greatly in style. This is not to say that the album is all one song and doesn’t vary, but the overall vibe on first run through is that of a grand fuzzy and folky story of the ups and downs of love. There is big, epic sound on the entire record and emotional tracks span beginning to end. “Axis: Thrones of Love” is the first track, a dreamy envelope of fuzz and growl, setting the tone for the stylistic aura of the rest of the record. McBean has lots of dudes and damsels playing alongside him here, and the cacophony of sound is so tightly arranged it almost sounds simplistic. Big Timpani drums and an overriding synthesizer really create a lot to digest in one song. This is a major success.
There are a few portions of this record that fuse 50′s sound with late 60′s psychedelic rock but somehow manage to make it sound completely modern. “Execution” is a snare drum heavy track with an upbeat rhythm catchy choruses. It’s important to note here that songs like this would never appear on a dark and brooding Black Mountain album. The female vocals in this duet are much more crisp and clear, as Amber Webber’s voice in BM is always distant and tense. ”While We Were Dreaming” is another dreamy track with smooth and smoky vocals. Webber is crooning with McBean on this one, and I think that’s why I dig it so much. “Jesus ain’t coming, so don’t waste your time.” It starts off with a more electrified finger picking and halfway through a fuzzy synth whips into play. The track is slow and beautiful, and not to be missed.
The press packets all say this is an album about the themes of love and hate, and press releases sometimes do not lie. There is a healthy dose of the euphoric and growling angst from top to bottom. “Holiday” begins with some cool southern harmonica and lyrically focuses on an intense Summer. On the outside, the song is immediately catchy and a sunshine ambience is catapulted at the listener. A closer look reveals pain lyrically, as McBean pines “I’ll never let the bastards fight back,” and “bulletholes through the walls of summer, god damn, what have we done.” The sound is incredibly complex, almost as if Black Mountain met The Pogues in an alley and created angry psychedelic ballads together. Weird, but entirely awesome. “And I Thank You” is a cathartic half-country track with slide guitars and keyboard wizardry. As mentioned, most of the album is about reflection, and this one departs completely and focuses on looking forward. “I ain’t livin’ no long lonesome nights. I’ll stop calling that woman my wife.” The sharp taste of pain is often mixed with the exhilarating feeling of emotional freedom. McBean is definitely my homeboy.
There are many things to love about this album. I find it entirely intriguing to compare the Pink Mountaintops work with Black Mountain, although both are completely separate successes. Outside Love is primed for major acclaim, and if I could write for three days about it, I would. There are touches of darkness here, splashes of color there, and a giant list of influences at work. Most of McBean’s work gets tagged with the Pink Floyd references, and that reference is entirely well founded, as so much is at work that one listen is not enough. Pre-order this thing whenever you get the chance. “Vampire” is the southern-fried indie track we’re asked to share with you, but to understand the sonic spectrum, you’ll have to wrap your brain around the whole thing.
