The six members of the rotating cast of characters in Pink Mountaintops may look a little hippie but their music isn’t all that folky. It reminds me more of Irish/Scottish folk with a dirty, heavy, bass-driven underline. The crowd Thursday night was a bit bland, and smaller than I expected since John Vanderslice was headlining.
The opening song was slow and drone-y, fitting for the dead-as-doornails crowd. The second track picked up a little, with an organ lending a psychedelic vibe and a kind of surf/garage tilt. Good steady drums, & tambourine stirred the audience. The set broke down to a slow, country style, though still heavy, still junky.
I love Pink Mountaintops, this is perfect camping music and definitely calls for loads of whiskey. Other songs contained nice loopy guitar solos with violin overlay; very rural and low country, Kentucky-feeling but with still the pervasive air of Scottish folk. The band exercises a good mix of male and female vocals on multiple tracks. Some songs were slightly haunting, very low key and slow to start, but gradually becoming more heavy and fuzzy. It’s definitely music to get stoned to. The violin had really nice overlay and an echo effect pouring out of the instrument like ribbons of hard candy, it took over any song for which it was present.
The set ratcheted up a notch with a deep, speedy bass drum, far-reaching, echoey guitar coupled with even yet still more echoey vocals. Really nice overall, all elements combined for a comforting mind fuck. Unreal drumming, crazy psychedelic guitar & crunchy vocals provided an awesome, surfy and psycho vibe. The crowd had finally woken up a bit at this point and provided the band with the appreciation they were due. The band brought it way back down to an old 70’s country drug vibe. Dark & deep, it reminded me of something off the Rush soundtrack with all it’s dark, heavy weirdness.
The final song of the set was the best: Crazy speedy psychedelic organ, lending a surf madness to the song. The drums on this song were amazing. It made me think of some wacky 60’s film montage with secret agents chasing one another from room to room, complete with wacky costume changes. This was all punctuated by bright flashing lights & quintessential screaming guitar, all very garage-y. The band came to an abrupt halt, shaking me out of my smoky mind trip.
Setlist:
- Axis: Thrones of Love
- The Gayest of Sunbeams
- Erected
- Vampire
- Closer to Heaven
- Plastic Man, You’re the Devil
- Sweet 69
- Outside Love
- Tourist in your Town
- Single Life
Need more? I had really hoped they’d play this song, but there’s always next time:
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCoGIC58fpI]