REVIEWS: BLACK MOUNTAIN - [ALBUM]

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For someone who likes music as much as I do, it takes a lot to get me out of the house to see a band. All of that standing around for hours has to come with the promise of a fierce guitar solo, especially if we’re talking about going to a show on a weeknight. Still, I took a chance on Black Mountain at Pop Montreal a couple years ago and I wasn’t disappointed. The show was at Montreal’s Spectrum—an old theater where you can sit down and watch people jam out songs without your legs getting tired. I was fairly certain that Stephen McBean and crew were the real deal after listening to their self-titled debut, but any lingering doubt was gone by the end of the night. The heavy tunes were heavier, and the psych tunes were psych-er, and I had my jones for a guitar-show satisfied.

When I first got their debut record, it was the summer time, and I felt it was a good soundtrack in all the heat and humidity. It’s a diverse collection of songs: some straight-ahead rock tunes, some rooted by electronics, a few horns thrown into the mix, but as much potential I could see in Black Mountain, the record wasn’t growing on me in that same way that a sure classic does. There are some definite tunes on the debut (after all, it was enough to get me out to the show), but it felt all over the map. The moral of the story is, In The Future is exactly what I wanted the debut to be—a tight record of vintage rock’n’roll.

The record opens with "Stormy High," a huge riff backed with a droning organ and vocalist Amy Webber wordlessly singing along. Their comparisons to 70’s psychedelic bands are justified, and you could probably fool someone into thinking this was a reissue without much trouble. "Angels" is a perfect example of the band embracing the audience that is embracing them. The harmonizing of Webber and McBean has always been a differentiator for this band, and “Angels” adds to that with strings that could have come on loan from Oasis. If the production was any slicker, this could easily find itself in high rotation on the radio.

But that is just one slice of the bigger pie. "Tyrants," which is all over the webnet, is a mini psych excursion, almost a warm-up to the album’s centerpiece, "Bright Lights." Coming in at 16+ minutes, this epic piece justifies a double LP both for its length and sheer wickedness. This is the one you put on at 2 a.m. when you’re sitting on the couch with only candles and a blue haze keeping you company. After chanting "bright lights" with increasing paranoia, they break free with a galloping guitar riff, and you realize these guys are serious about this whole Black Mountain thing.

But "Bright Lights" is almost the end of the record, and getting from point A to point B is a satisfying listen. "Wucan" has a nice synth odyssey, sounding almost prog, but still much more rock that electronic. "Stay Free" is a more acoustic number, again very vintage sounding, and the short "Wild Wind" sounds like it could be a Wings outtake.

I had no idea what to expect before I heard their debut, and was fairly impressed when I got it. After waiting three years, I thought I knew what I was getting with this record, but I was a little off base. Black Mountain have put together a cohesive effort with a consistent tone to the whole record. This is a great record for late nights, and Sunday afternoons—a step forward by a great rock’n’roll band.

In The Future is out now on Jagjaguwar.

For more information, visit www.blackmountainarmy.com or myspace.com/blackmountain