Black Mountain
rises from within the Vancouver-based fiefdom of
Stephen McBean
, the hazy-toned singer and meandering songwriter who also heads up
Pink Mountaintops
. Both groups languish in a fog of psychedelia and sexual release. But while the latter opts for arty avant folk,
lives up to its name with a heavier foundation. The self-titled debut on
Jagjaguwar
(its eight-song count and subdued cover art are a dark mirror to
) busts open half-lidded
Velvet Underground
fetishisms with squalls of
Blue Cheer
guitar, and further channels the heady sounds of the late '60s with a moodily dwelling organ.
McBean
shares vocal duties with
Amber Webber
throughout, but she becomes an especially important factor on the twosome that closes
, since her stoned and elegiac vocals make them something more than simply idling jams. "Heart of Snow," for example, flutters like a warped and ancient recording of "Space Oddity" as
Webber
draws out the syllables in lines like "Heart of snow/Let go let go/But your sad wings/Won't fly you home"; feedback and pounding drums periodically join in. It's a damaged blues sound comparable to that of
Jennifer Herrema
's
Royal Trux
outgrowth
RTX
, but
's vaguely mystic lyrics also dovetail
back into
territory. "Modern Music" and "No Satisfaction" rock a
White Light/White Heat
tumble that's nevertheless well done, particularly on the former, which features some spectacular sax assistance from Vancouver area player
Masa Anzai
. The remainder of
positions stoner rock chording over swirling vintage keys and the ever-impressive vocals of
and
. It's a referential sound, to be sure. But there's enough weight to
's mojo to make it more than worthwhile. [A two-CD remastered 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of
was released in 2015, featuring an eight-track bonus CD including the band's
Druganaut
12" and four previously unreleased songs. The set was packaged in a digipack and included a 12-page lyric booklet.] ~ Johnny Loftus