Steve McBean draws from life's highs and lows
The Pink Mountaintops’ second album, Axis of Evol, is a decidedly darker and moodier work than the first. Songs like Cold Criminals and New Drug Queens uphold the easy confidence of Sweet 69 and Tourist in Your Town, but leave the sex-in-the-afternoon themes in the cabinet. The heavy, hazy pulse that carries much of Axis conjures Neil Young’s moody 1973 release Tonight’s the Night, which also involved heavy doses of Jameson during the recording process.
"It just kinda floats around," says Steve McBean, songwriter for the Pink Mountaintops. "No one owns it. You wait until you get a good one passing through you." I’m not sure whether he’s talking about his music or his whisky.
McBean tends to drift a lot in his speech, testing out ideas before stopping and listening to understand them. The man has been playing in different bands for over 22 years now; a prolific songwriter in the truest sense, he’s overseen several commercially successful projects in recent times, the most renowned of which – Black Mountain – opened for Coldplay at the Molson Centre last August.
In all his outfits, McBean exhibits a tendency to invoke American folk, rock and psychedelia – an approach that feels completely unplanned, weirdly enough. "With some people I know it offends them, but the referencing, that’s what I like about it," he says. He respects Catfish Haven, one of the opening bands for the Montreal show, for a like-minded attitude. "It’s honest rock’n'roll with no quirks. George [the lead singer] just has this huge beautiful voice, there’s no keyboards, no haircuts."
McBean seems to be of the school that while you can do a thousand different things, there are only a certain number of chords you can play and really get something out of. The Velvet Underground’s imprint on Axis is strong: Cold Criminals is offered like a 25th anniversary card to Reed and Cale’s I Can’t Stand It. Certainly, this is the stuff that can get a listener all fussy over derivatives and false pretenses, but McBean’s sincerity and candour tend to win out. If anything, the album feels best when you’re not really sure who exactly McBean might be ripping.
"It’s not a political statement," he says, in passing, of the phrase Axis of Evol.
"It’s about all the battling in our lives… It could be between God and the Devil, but it could be anything. I’ve been through a lot of different things, ups and downs, in my life."
The Pink Mountaintops
With Black Angels, Catfish Haven and Crystal Clyffs
At La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), June 9
4 comments
Well, one thing is for certain, this Definitely qualifies as one of those things that just make you go Hmmmmm…..
Wouldn’t you agree?
I mean come on, someone named “McBean” claiming that his song, or Entire Album entitled “Axis of Evol” = Not trying to make a political statement?
Give me a break!?
I’m sorry, but I’m a little tired of these colourfully weird named bands trying to revolutionize music, when in fact they are probably butchering what was once perhaps a perfectly nice & absolutely listenable genre.
N-E-hoo, that’s about all I have 2 say about that.
Peace.
Pink Mountaintops lead singer, Steve McBean, seems to have come by his beard naturally – when you’ve been plugging away for 22 years in various bands for the sheer love of the music, not only have you paid your dues in full, you must be doing something right! Sure he’s had some commercial success to go along with all manner of critical plaudits – his Black Mountain band did, after all, tour with Coldplay and yet he still seems incredibly detatched from the the all too fickle mainstream music scene. If his psychedelic Velvet Underground folk-tinged brand of indie-rock happens to come into vogue (and it just so happens to be all the rage right now) then so be it, McBean’s been loyal to his muse for over two decades now and isn’t about to change any time soon irrespective of what is or isn’t in fashion at the moment!
McBean is consistently opening my eyes to great rock & roll!!! When I went to see Black Mountain, he brought along a kick ass BC band called Ladyhawk that, at the time, didn’t have a record out. This time, with the Pink Mountaintops at the Sala Rossa, he brought along The Black Angels who crushed me with their dark psychedelic rock grooves. I was seduced. In a drunken haze I told the guitarist from the Angels that they epitomized rock $ roll for me. Okay, maybe that was coming on a little strong but it was one hell of a show. Just the remedy I needed for a broken heart. Booze and rock & roll.
As for the Pink Mountaintops, I wasn’t as impressed. The show seemed to take forever to start and by the time the main attraction got on stage, some people had already lost interest. I think that really affected the performance. The band sorta just ran through the set list in hopes to get it over with. A far cry from the Black Mountain show I’d seen that had blown me away with neverending hypnotic jams and a big loud thick as tar sound. The Pink Mountaintops are a bit lighter and more concise. They don’t stray far from what the album has to offer which is unfortunate because McBean is so talented when it comes to improvisation and spontaneity. I guess I was expecting a Black Mountain show which shouldn’t have been so far off the mark. More than half the members of Black Mountain tour with the Pink Mountaintops.
Axis of Evol, however, is great on record if not live. The thing is I just don’t know why. I kept it spinning in my stereo for days on end without really knowing what drew me towards it. There’s just something great about McBean’s voice and those droning guitars that carry on forever. Not to mention those beautiful quiet accoustic songs that transcend their simplicity and make your mind drift away.
Steve McBean is a man that does music because he loves it to death and has a lot of passion for it. As the name of this article goes, his music is about the highs and lows of life. He can take absolutely anything and use it as musical inspiration. Quite recently, actually, one year ago now, his project called Black Mountain was extremely successful. They had done a nice little venue tour and then got on Coldplay’s North American arena tour. Many were begining to really respect this band and specifically Steve McBean, but out of the blue, they decided to go on a temporary hiatus and try their own things. This is where Steve McBean formed his newest band named the Pink Mountaintops. Like his other project, it’s indie and it’s quite original. They are starting to get quite a lot of recognition but I feel the only reason that is occuring is because of Black Mountain. Look, I don’t mind that he continues with this band but we all know that he creates better music with his fellow members in Black Mountain. Let’s get a new record soon!