Heartless Bastards The Mountain Review Date: January 4th, 2010
Reviewed By: Rating: Not Yet Rated
"Out to Sea"

Heartless Bastards were one of the “buzz” bands of 2009. I kept hearing about them over and over and they played Madison quite a few times and couldn’t make it out. I didn’t know if they were a street punk band or what, but I heard over and over that they were good. When I finally got a chance to listen, I realized...they are! Damn good.

As you’ll hear me rave about this multiple times in my “Best of” selections, these songs are simple. So. Simple. But good. Four chords and simple song structure, but it’s all put together perfectly led by Erika Wennerstrom‘s trembly, soaring, convincingly convictive voice. It’s nonchalant. It’s only four chords. But if you have a creative vein, you can take your simple subtleties and four chords and make something unique and something everyone can like.

Listening to the title track, “The Mountain”, I feel a dirty, exciting wave of despair engulf me. It builds and grows. It repeats. As that original feeling fails you the song does not as it reaches its climax. It’s so simple and so good. After hearing that first song I had a feeling I was going to be let down. But I wasn’t. This working formula is repeated over and over again throughout the record. Not always quite to the same level as the opening track, however. “Be So Happy” brings it down to a slow, trotting tempo and then “Early In The Morning” comes back and kicks you in the teeth with energy. This is all a great thing. It’s not too repetitious, but it follows a familiar formula throughout as to not lose the initial feeling.

This is an awesome drinking album. A revenge album. A despair album. It can be all sorts of things. Maybe because of how good the songs are, how simple they are, the fact that it’s something we all hide under our skin and are just itching to let it out. I don’t know but this album makes me want to never shower and stare at my ceiling and enjoy all my shortcomings. The strongest song on the album aside from the title track is “Out at Sea”. I envision it to be something like going to a 50’s sock hop with the Suicide Girls as your date and hearing those doo-wop songs get dirty, drunk, and covered in sex and rock n’ roll.

In conclusion, maybe we should listen to the critics on this one! Agree! Nah. Don’t blindly follow, but don’t blindly hate your leaders and media analyzers! Listen, pay attention, form your own opinion! Yeah!