That luxurious fur cradling the romance book on the cover of The Pink Mountaintops' third album is a perfect visual analogue to the sleek genre play at work on
Outside Love
. After 2004's self-titled affair and its worthy 2006 follow-up,
Axis of Evol
, Black Mountain's Stephen McBean returns with a ten-song concept suite about "love and hate that reads like a Danielle Steele romance novel." The Vancouver/Victoria punk veteran’s new songs are also existentially influenced by such incongruous items as "weddings in Montreal, winter, Pink Floyd's
The Final Cut
, the Bermuda Triangle, being depressed in the sunshine, people who haven't made out yet but will in the future, clowns in the ceilings,” etc. A personal favorite influence is “bedrooms where skinheads used to live."
Outside Love
is also an indie star-studded event. The cameos include Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mt. Zion, Godspeed You! Black Emperor), Ted Bois (Destroyer), Jesse Sykes, Phil Wandscher (Whiskeytown), Josh Stevenson (Jackie O Motherfucker), Ashley Webber (Bonnie "Prince" Billy), and Tolan McNeil (Caroline Mark). Black Mountain’s Amber Webber, Matthew Camirand, and Joshua Wells also join in the merry din. Recorded at multiple studios,
Outside Love
was mixed at Elmwood Studios by John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Black Mountain, Explosions In The Sky, The Mountain Goats).
Can Stephen McBean do anything wrong? His intense lyrics and guitar fuel the monster psych drone that is Black Mountain -- Pink Moutaintops was originally just a side project. As Outside Love and his previous two releases under the moniker have proven, it's much more than that.
Joined by a slew of musical friends from Black Mountain, Jackie O Motherfucker, SunnO))) and others, McBean uses Outside Love to focus on the harsh and sweaty aspects of love. But despite the Danielle Steele-looking book on the album cover, this is romance as written by Charles Manson.
Electric guitars lay low in a muddy mix until they pounce, acoustic ones remain inside the wall of sound but are still palpable. Love here boils down to what is outside of romantic love: namely, hate and lust. That fine line is explored in all its greasy truths. “Axis: Throne of Love,” “Vampire” and “And I Thank You” all explore the psychic damage wrought by emotions both necessary and dread. While “Closer to Heaven” and “The Gayest of Sunbeams” suggest that sometimes sex might be enough, such sentiments are delivered sardonically. So is there hope here? Yes, if only from the fact that after the sweaty longing and embracing turns into boredom and soul-deadening contempt, one can move on, restored and ready for the next war.
Outside Love is brilliant, disturbing and powerful. McBean has done what most artists dream of: creating a vehicle for telling the truth as bravely as possible. Even with the majesty that is Black Mountain, the Mountaintops are my choice.
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Nice review, this really is the disc that should give the pink mountaintops a little more props. Maybe not equal with Black Mountain, but certainly not just a side project. Great stuff.