And yet another great review on “Mountain”- Happy Monday, now let’s get to the rock and roll…<\/p>\n
IndieSource Review of Mountain<\/a><\/p>\n “In \u201cWay Gets Dark,\u201d one of the more homespun acoustic tracks to behold on The Cold Stares\u2019 awesome new alternative blues juggernaut Mountain, the band doesn\u2019t rely on imagistic lyrics alone to create a visual experience to accompany the music. The eerie echo of the lightly plucked strings sends a chilling sense of danger in our direction, and the lack of emotion in lead singer Chris Tapp\u2019s voice kills any comfortability that his warm southern drawl may have provided. It\u2019s like the path in front of us is literally getting darker; we\u2019re trapped in this dry but sharply tuned mix next to the guitar, our minds left to wander after the crisp melody that could be waiting just beyond the horizon. Mountain on Spotify!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And yet another great review on “Mountain”- Happy Monday, now let’s get to the rock and roll… IndieSource Review of Mountain “In \u201cWay Gets Dark,\u201d one of the more homespun acoustic tracks to behold on The Cold Stares\u2019 awesome new … Continue reading
\nMountain is driven by its evocative soundscapes, which appear when we\u2019re least expecting them. At fifteen tracks, this is a monstrous LP that offers plenty of intriguing moments for newcomers to The Cold Stares\u2019 sound to get acquainted with their style, but its cohesive, somewhat progressive qualities are what will satisfy the group\u2019s longtime fans more than anything else. As incredibly different in rhythm as \u201cCold Black Water\u201d and \u201cThe Plan\u201d are, they play together in this record flawlessly, as if they were two sides of the same coin. What they have in common is the jarring, neo-noir soundscape that we\u2019re greeted with in track one, \u201cThe Great Unknown,\u201d and unable shake for the duration of the record.
\nI found myself taken aback when I discovered that The Cold Stares are comprised only of singer\/guitarist Chris Tapp and drummer Brian Mullins. The abrasive \u201cStickemup\u201d gets started with a colorful little guitar tizzy that sounds like an amalgamation of several string instruments layered on top of each other, while Mullins\u2019 drum kit sounds twice the size of any other I\u2019ve heard lately. \u201cWade In The Darkness,\u201d \u201cGone Not Dead,\u201d and really any of the heavier tracks on the record feel so much more mechanical in their execution than what I was expecting, and yet they\u2019re so far removed from the digitalized sound of robotic pop\/rock that even the most subtle differences between their melodies and that of their contemporaries is hard to ignore in these songs.
\nThe most somber moment in Mountain ironically might also be The Cold Stares\u2019 most triumphantly reverent so far \u2013 \u201cUnder His Command,\u201d a Gothic folk ballad that brands us with a smoky vocal by Tapp that plays more like an epitaph than it does a rock song. His words stick to the paper thin strings like glue, and wherever his prose takes them, they melodically respond \u2013 in the gauntest of minor keys. This is my favorite song on the record, not because of any machismo-fueled rock luster, but because of its dark, witty minimalism.
\nI think that the best way to experience Mountain is to listen to its fifteen songs from beginning to end in the chronological order that The Cold Stares\u2019 arranged them. In what can only be described as an operatic approach to making a bluesy garage rock record, this album starts off with a sonic beat down (\u201cThe Great Unknown\u201d and more modest \u201cFriend of Mine\u201d), escalates to more methodical, emotional grounds (\u201cUnder His Command,\u201d and \u201cStickemup\u201d) before letting the harmonies go off the rails (\u201cGone Not Dead,\u201d \u201cWade in the Darkness,\u201d and the bone-rattling \u201cChild of God\u201d) and giving into this duo\u2019s penchant for fusing nimbly wound rock songs into analogue-style blues rants (\u201cCold Black Water,\u201d \u201cTwo Keys and a Good Book\u201d and \u201cKilling Machine\u201d just to name some highlights). There\u2019s a lot for music enthusiasts to ponder in this album, but there\u2019s just as much excitement for casual fans to discover in its intricately stylized songs as well.”<\/p>\n