Pink Mountaintops

by JACK DIABLO
Album: Outside Love
Artist: Pink Mountaintops
Release Date: May 5, 2009
Label: Jagjaguwar
Stephen McBean is a prolific and talented songwriter. The frontman for Black Mountain is quickly becoming a name unto himself in the psychedelic rock revival and with Outside Love, the latest album from his side project Pink Mountaintops, he continues to prove his prowess in crafting songs that probe the deepest, darkest recesses of the human heart.
Thematically, Outside Love is a far cry from Pink Mountaintops’ self-titled debut. The first album was steeped in sex, bordering on the pornographic. The sexually suggestive name of the band could have lent itself as an outlet for exclusively making such explicit material, but McBean has opted to dig deeper on this go-round and explore love and loneliness and the fine line that exists between the two. The press release defines the record as “ten songs of love and hate that read like a Danielle Steele romance novel,” an apt description echoed by the album cover which shows a hardback book on a bed of blue velvet.
Alongside McBean, Outside Love features talent on loan from bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Whiskeytown, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and several members of Black Mountain including co-vocalist, Amber Webber. Mixing duty fell on Grammy-nominated producer, John Congleton, who has worked with groups including Explosions in the Sky, Mountain Goats and Modest Mouse.
Even though a majority of the songs on this album are about love, it isn’t the idyllic, romantic sort that plagues most pop music. On the opening track, ‘Axis: Thrones of Love’, the chorus asks “How deep is your love?”. The response, “Mine was cheap and made of plastic,” leans more towards Bukowski than Steele. It introduces an antihero of sorts that combines the cynicism of Salinger’s Holden Caulfield with the romanticism of Fante’s Arturo Bandini, but all grown up with the bittersweet taste of retrospective regret fresh in his mouth. Ashley Webber (twin sister of Black Mountain’s Amber Webber) sings the part of what could very well be the patient lover to McBean’s sensualist on ‘While We Were Dreaming.’ Her frustration is palpable when she sings, “And if I could find your heart / I would pull it from your chest / And smash it with my fist ’til it was beating.” She can only save her man from the prison he’s created for himself in their dreams. In these songs, the protagonist comes off as one destined to be alone, a self-fulfilling prophecy sabotaging his relationships just as they begin to blossom.
The lyrics are not always so sinister though. There are songs overflowing with sincerity that reveal a longing and capacity for meaningful companionship, even if the soul in question is a troubled one. “I would fight to stay your execution / I would die to save your soul,” are the opening lines to ‘Execution,’ followed by the chorus, “Promise me that in the end / We will find our true love again.” Whatever outside love means exactly is unclear other than what the title track proclaims, “Don’t carry your burdens to your grave / Let outside love guide your way / Someone told me of a dream / Where outside love reigned supreme.” Perhaps it is the only hope for such tortured souls, even if it is but a dream.
But there is a sense of hope, or more accurately a wishful optimism, that bubbles to the surface as the album winds down. In ‘And I Thank You’ it is present but temporary as McBean sings with conviction, “And just for tonight / We’ll forget all those sad songs / ’cause I know in my heart it’s gonna be alright.” He seems to speaking on behalf of all those who share this burden. The lines “We may be restless / But Lord / Lord we are willing / Please don’t let us be misunderstood,” have the ring of a country song emanating from the jukebox. It’s as if he’s speaking to that lonely heart nursing the whiskey bottle, coaxing him to shake it off, reminding that no one is really alone and it’s all going to be okay.
The tone is lightened significantly in ‘The Gayest of Sunbeams,’ when that special someone enters the picture and sets everything right. She is exalted “And I rise with the gayest of sunbeams / And I walk ‘neath the warmth of her rays” and practically deified, a savior if you will, “She’s my light and Godly shine / The flying silver angel rides.” A similar sentiment is echoed in the final track, ‘Closer to Heaven.’ “There’s no closer to heaven than to shine in your light / And I pray sweet angel that we’ll all be alright.” Optimistic but with no guarantee. There is a light at the end of this tunnel but it’s a dim one and the road there is long and treacherous.
Outside Love is the kind of album that appeals to the tragically self-aware. Those seeking love songs of the happily ever after variety need not apply. But anyone who has ever looked back at a failed relationship and scrutinized their own faults with deep regret might just find some hope in between the lines of these songs. Or if nothing else, know that they aren’t alone.