Stereogum Home
November 26, 2007

New Black Mountain - "Tyrants"

Vancouver dust-kickers and Spider-Man 3 grads Black Mountain's forthcoming In The Future is one hell of a raging rock 'n' roll slab. We loved the eponymous debut, but as standout among standouts "Tyrants" should suggest, the troupe, three years the wiser and grizzlier, has upped the ante this time around. With "Tyrants," a rollicksome opening twists into an inky organ drift and then the band firmly plants its dark roots into the soil of epic (as in one of those poems), classic, apocalyptic rock.

Black Mountain - "Tyrants" (MP3)

See, it shifts and toils between the truck-stop blues of the Pink Mountaintops and the heftier jam-a-longs of Black Mountain, the wailing male female vocals overlapping to create a guitar-and-synth dashed, war torn, lightning dusted landscape where the eponymous tyrant will die by a sword, perhaps like he or she lived. Well, pretty sure it's a he.

In The Future is out 1/21 on Jagjaguwar.

Posted at 11:32 AM in
Tags:




-->

6 Comments

Me and my friends went on a ferocious drinking session with Black Mountain / Pink Mountaintops / Blood Meridian after they played in Dublin last summer as part of their Black Mountain Liberation Army Tour. We were all completely wasted on Jameson Irish Whiskey (or Jameson as we call it) and I was talking to their boss (they all have day jobs in a drug rehabilitation clinic), when out of nowhere my friend who is 6'3" and quite hirsute tried to kiss Stephen McBean. And then they left to go back to their hotel.

Good to hear that such a harrowing experience involving a phenomenally drunk Irish man didn't dimish their hard-rocking sensibilities at all. It sounds just like all other Black Mountain tunes (although the brief bit of acoustic guitar confused me) and that's a good thing in my book. Go check this band out live if the opportunity ever arises. They're incredible - no matter which incarnation you manage to see.

PS - it's Pink MountainTOPS.

Posted by: Neilo at 11/26/07 12:33 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

hey Neilo -- thanks for the anecdote and the "tops." yeah, we knew the name, of course ... the self-titled debut remains a favorite. so sleazy and so good. (dig it more than axis of evol, though i realize i'm in the minority there.) anyhow, suffering through a bunch of attention-killing internet issues this morning. more coffee, please.

Posted by: brandon at 11/26/07 12:46 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Howdy Brandon - do I detect a little touch of the hangovers? I'm assuming, of course, that "attention-killing internet issues" is a euphemism.
Funnily enough, the band recommended that I buy the first one over the second one when I asked them because I only had enough money for one or two records and a load of booze that weekend (labelmates Okkervil River were on the next night). So you're not entirely in a minority.

Posted by: Neilo at 11/26/07 1:42 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Cannot wait for this album! I think I've already worn out my Bastards of Light 12" which features two non-album tracks that are just about as awesome as "Tyrants".

No love for Jerk With a Bomb? Pyrokinesis might (so far) be the best thing Stephen (and co.) have crafted.

Posted by: red at 11/26/07 4:52 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

I bought the new album on 2xLP and received the free download of the record. i think this album far outweighs their first album. it takes you on a sonic journey like a classic album should. you can hear a lot of influences. it sounds like it was recorded to tape. very saturated, muffed-out fuzzy guitar tones. i'm really diggin it.

I saw Pink Mountaintops last year open up for Wolfmother and I have to say that they were awful live. They seemed pissed-off and totally not into it. Very weak performance from a band I love. Maybe just a bad night?? I look forward to seeing BM sometime! I'm so bummed that this tour is passing right over ALbuquerque... they even have a day off between ARizona and TEXass. LAME

Posted by: NachoDaddy at 01/11/08 7:28 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Leave a comment


 

The 'Gum Drop

Get our newsletter. MP3s and giveaways weekly.

Search




Sort by:date relevance

Information

  • Contact:
  • About
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Stereogum RSS Stereogum RSS XML Icon
  • MP3-Only RSS Stereogum RSS XML Icon

Staff

Founder/Editor-In-Chief
Scott Lapatine
Executive Editor
Amrit Singh
Senior Writer
Brandon Stosuy
Columnist
Jon McMillan
Technology & Operations
Jim Jazwiecki
Angela Williams

The Cool Kids

All Stereogum Posts

Get Flash to see our mp3 player. Here are our mp3s: Blank Dogs - Ants (»)
Blank Dogs - Crystal Ladies (»)
Annuals - Confessor (»)
Spoon - Writing To You In Reverse (»)
Benoit Pioulard - Brown Bess (»)
Fucked Up - Twice Born (»)
Lykke Li - Little Bit (Loving Hand Remix) (»)
Crystal Castles - Crimewave (Crystal Castles vs HEALTH) (»)
David Grubbs - An Optimist Declines (Edit) (»)
High Places - From Stardust To Sentience (»)
Lou Reed - Caroline Says, Pt. II (»)
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (»)
Pepi Ginsberg - Son (»)
Dr. Dog - The Ark (»)
The Walkmen - In The New Year (»)
of Montreal - Nonpareil Of Favor (»)
Sleeping States - Rivers (»)
Megafaun - Beloved Binge (»)
Chad VanGaalen - Willow Tree (»)
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes (»)
Radiohead - Tell Me Why (»)
Joseph Arthur - Temporary People (»)

Band to Watch logo

Band To Watch: Blank Dogs

Blank Dogs are actually singular: It's the insanely prolific one-man Brooklyn-based band of Mr. Blank Dog. We don't know too much about the biography of the guy behind the bedroom new-wave pop/punk and he's usually covering his face with masks...

MORE »

Quit Your Day Job logo

Quit Your Day Job: Megafaun

Raleigh-via-Eau Clair BTW Megafaun debuted impressively earlier this year with Bury The Square. The trio nip-and-tuck experimental tendencies (tape splicing, white noise colliding with banjo, junkyard-laced spring reverb, screeching feedback at the tail end of a quiet back porch lament)...

MORE »

Premature Evaluation logo

Premature Evaluation: of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

Skeletal Lamping is anything but skeletal. When we took a close listen to album closer "Id Engager" we mentioned it wasn't the strangest, most ambitious, or best tune on of Montreal's new one, but after absorbing the other 14 tracks,...

MORE »

Video Hangover logo

Video Hangover: Marcy Playground - "Saint Joe On The Schoolbus"

Every week, we dig in the archives for videos that we find noteworthy, memorable, or just unbelievably stupid. And then, Jon McMillan breaks 'em down for you. This week: Marcy Playground blows their one chance at video immortality.

MORE »

Oldstand logo

OldStand: Rolling Stone, September 13, 1984

Take our ink-stained hands and join us at the OldStand, where Jon McMillan goes to remind everyone what an honest-to-goodness music magazine is supposed to look like. Lots of Huey Lewis (and the News) news lately, so let's go back...

MORE »

The Outsiders logo

The Outsiders: Vol. 17: Bird Show, Hair Police, Hush Arbors

Not all of Stereogum's favorite sounds conform to what folks expect us to cover. In this space, resident Bananafish fetishist Brandon Stosuy focuses on bands, albums, singles, and villages in Sweden that may otherwise pass by unnoticed. This installment's virtual...

MORE »

The 'Gum Drop logo

Nicole Atkins - "Under The Milky Way"

On 9/9 Nicole Atkins is releasing a four-song EP fittingly titled Nicole Atkins Digs Other People's Songs via Columbia, on which the Jersey girl covers Nada Surf's "Inside Of Love," the Doors' "Crystal Ship," Mama Cass Elliott's "Dream A Little...

MORE »