Review: Pink Mountaintops – Outside Love
Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love (2009) [Jagjaguwar] // Grade: C+
Stephen McBean returns to the lighter side of the Mountain with another Pink Mountaintops release. McBean is probably better known for his heavier Stoner Rock project, Black Mountain… However with Pink Mountaintops McBean gets to flex the gentler parts of his soul and song writing for which unlike Black Mountain for better or worse usually ends up being a more varied outing.
Outside Love, a reverb drenched trip trip through psychedelia, country, folk and dream-pop with the sort of ominous lovelorn story telling that strikes a medium point between Mick Jagger, Stephin Merritt & Nick Cave. Songs like “Execution”, “While We Were Dreaming”, “Vampires”, “Outside” & “And I Thank You” are examples of McBean at his best as a songwriter… haunting, distinct compositions that breathe with you. When things work, they really work for McBean, however that isn’t always the case and the other half of Outside Love unfortunately fumbles through as Hokey afterthoughts placed here because they fit with the Pink Mountaintop sound. Still, definitely worth checking out because half a great album from McBean is more than most musicians could ever hope to muster!
