Axis of Evol
Pink Mountaintops’ self-titled debut paid tribute to the Velvet Underground, and on their sophomore release, *Axis of Evol*, Stephen McBean (also founder of psych-rockers Black Mountain) expands the band’s sound to include the specters of other musical mind-benders: McBean’s hollow warble on the acoustic “Comas” recalls early Pink Floyd genius Syd Barrett; the post-punkish “New Drug Queens” has a dark, danceable Ian Curtis soul; and the tumbling bass and hazy, droning guitars on “Lord, Let Us Shine” and “Slaves” conjure the much-missed Spacemen 3. Trading in the simmering sexual energy of *Pink Mountaintops* for a more spiritual theme, *Axis of Evol* has a subdued, earthy vibe, even in the face of feverish hallucinations and lapses of faith. “Plastic Man, You’re the Devil” feels like a hippie boy’s soul-searching blues, and the naked, mournful “How Can We Get Free” is both chilling and endearing.
Pink Mountaintops is Stephen Mcbean. His other bands to date have included a straight out punk outfit, a crusty punk/metal band, and, most recently, a psych-tinged maximal rock group whose self-titled debut record, Black Mountain, captured a great amount of critical acclaim (and meteorically became Jagjaguwar's best-selling title.) With Axis of Evol, Pink Mountaintops’ second full-length record, Mcbean has once again created something much greater than the sum of his influences. Axis of Evol begins with a forboding spiritual. It then almost immediately ramps up into a thumping, buzzing, blissful haze, at various parts sounding like the Velvet Underground or Spacemen 3 or the Jesus and Mary Chain circa Psycho Candy, and then ends with a hypnotic, Smog-like meditation. Throughout the record, Mcbean sings about love and war, the love of war, and the war of love—on the body, on the mind and on the soul. Home-recorded and largely self-produced, Axis of Evol is a further testament to the vital prolificacy of Stephen Mcbean.
Count Joni Mitchell with Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The Velvet Underground as an artist who started a movement. Her 1970 album Ladies Of The Canyon inspired one gentle-voiced young woman after another to pick up a guitar and let her voice be heard. Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From The Canyon (Numero Group) gathers…
Lo-fi indie rock is alive and well in 2006, as evidenced by the arrival of the sophomore effort by Pink Mountaintops, Axis of Evol.