![Default - Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album]](http://www.altsounds.com/i/posticon.gif "Default - Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album]")
Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album]
Fat Possum Records March 7, 2009, 03:06 PM Views: 754
Comments: 0
 Rock music has had its fair share of wonderfully unique vocalists, from Janis Joplin to Black Francis – singers whose style you couldn’t even begin to attempt to mimic if you were so inclined to try. Such unexampled deliveries have brought much joy to many a music fan, which makes it even more tragic that Heartless Bastards lead singer, Erika Wennerstrom, will almost certainly remain a largely undiscovered gem. Anyway, more on those vocal chords later.
The Mountain, Heartless Bastards’ third album, is the silver lining of a rather sable, stormy cloud. After splitting with her boyfriend Mike Lamping (now both former HB bass player and partner of 11 years), Wennerston relocated to Austin where she wrote all 11 songs that make up The Mountain. As you would expect, the album is lyrically low-spirited, it was after all in the wake of one of the lowest points in the writer’s life. Second song in “Could be so Happy”, opens with the rather pessimistic analysis:
“I could be so happy if I just quit being sad
I could be so funny if I just quit being a drag
I could be so sweet if I just quit being sour
And just when you are pushed to the point of either wanting to give her a good, hard shake or join her in her misery, she delivers the line “I could do all these things oh I have the power”, which heralds further words of hope and defiance. It’s a fleeting moment, and soon enough her pain returns.
Musically, The Mountain certainly has its stand out moments, and none are more impressive than the title track which kicks it all off. It opens with White Striped fuzzy guitar before slide guitar of a country twang accompanies hi-hat in beckoning in ‘The Voice’. When it arrives, it’s one of those moments that causes you to hold any liquid you may have been drinking in your mouth because continuing to let it slide down your throat might just wash the moment away. As the song reaches its climax, with a whale-song like slide guitar solo, you just pray they haven’t shot their mountain-sized load too soon. The song could easily have closed as opened the album, as it carries both intent and a sense of completion.
Following that with the downbeat “Could be so Happy” is a strange move, and not a particularly good one. Just when you hope the album will continue to ascend from its splendid start, it slides back down the slope. Perhaps this mountain just doesn’t want to be scaled. Next track “Early in the Morning” is the track that clearly should have followed the opener, but hey at least we’re back on track...for now. You see this is The Mountain’s problem – just when it has momentum, it finds hesitation; each propulsion meets pause. So the dynamic “Out at Sea” and fantastically titled “Withypoo” are rather deflated by songs such as “Hold Your Head High” and “So Quiet”; the slower songs just aren’t strong enough to pull off this constant pace shift.
It’s always hard to criticise something to deeply personal, borne of such painful experiences, lyrically at least, but the lasting impression is that Heartless Bastards had the songs in them to write a brilliant album full of as many highs as its title suggests, and after two albums that never left obscurity, you would have thought such highs would be welcome. For now at least though, it seems like someone is just not ready to arise.
Track List:
The Mountain
Could Be So Happy
Early in the Morning
Hold Your Head High
Out At Sea
Nothing Seems the Same
Wide Awake
So Quiet
Had To Go
Witchypoo
Sway
Buy The Mountain here http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/8902...n/Product.html
|
| | | | Overall Rating | | 6 | | Vocals / Lyrics | | 9 | | Musicianship | | 7 | | Production | | 7 | | Creativity | | 6 | | Lastability | | 6 | | Reviewers Tilt | | 5 |
66% | |
| |
| 
![Kanye West - Heartless [Music Video]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/file.png)
Kanye West - Heartless [Music Video]
| 3rd Party Music Videos 
![Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album]](http://hangout.altsounds.com/geek/gars/images/4/0/3/0/heartlessbastards.jpg "Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album]")
![Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album] - Reply With Quote](http://www.altsounds.com/i/quote.png "Heartless Bastards - The Mountain [Album] - Reply With Quote"){kind=small}
