Blitzen Trapper: Wild Mountain Nation

Label: Lidkercow Ltd

Wild Mountain Nation opens with “Devil-A-Go-Go,” a headspinning song with a rhythm that contracts and contorts as it moves along, blasts of noise occasionally manifesting to further disorient the listener. It moves from there to the “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”-ish title track, and by then the lack of a template has been set. At times, this music is dizzying: “Murder Babe” features darting percussion and vocals that stop just short of sneering, while “Hot Tip/Tough Cub” takes things in a quieter direction, and “Sci-Fi Kid” is the sort of morphing pop song that can stay lodged in your head for days. I’ve heard comparisons made between this band and both Pavement and circa Odelay Beck; for my money, given both groups’ fondness for noise and unpredictability, I’d argue that there’s a similar mindset at work with (new labelmates) Comets on Fire. While there are clear sonic differences, both groups seem to enjoy alternating songs boasting abrasive sheets of noise with the transcendentally pastoral; when done right, as this group does most of the time, the resulting dizziness feels pretty good. (Tobias)