Austin Psych Fest Preview: Pink Mountaintops

Stephen McBean: Just before he bust out of his cubicle at Black Mountain

While Pink Mountaintops sounds like the name of an Appalachian acapella group, they are in fact the slightly less sinister side project of Black Mountains’ Stephen McBean. Their catalog features  several stellar songs that should translate exceptionally well to the stage. While certainly adept at crunching guitars and rolling reverb, their tunes span a broad range of influence. For instance, Spiritualized can be heard in the choral majesty of “Axis: Thrones of Love” and Jim Carroll bleeds through “Single Life.” Indeed, they are a bit more modern in their approach than the classic rocking Black Mountain.

As always, enjoy the samples below … then buy the albums, preferably at your local rock emporium.

Pink Mountaintops – Axis: Thrones of Love – MP3

Pink Mountaintops – Single Life – MP3

Sadly, the band’s visual aesthetic standards don’t quite live up to their music. As a result, their video output makes it look like the Pink Mountaintops were plundered by the most egregious of strip-miners. This radio performance will just have to do: