Outside Love

iTunes Review

Stephen McBean plays coarse, guitar-powered rock with Black Mountain and fuzzy, psychedelic pop with Pink Mountaintops. He approaches each with equal affection and this third PM collection is packed with fleeting moments of hazy, lazy pop where angelic choirs roll down the hills where someone’s been hiding their Pink Floyd and Jesus and Mary Chain albums. The easy coasting rhythms lend themselves to classy embellishments where keyboards and guitars gracefully flirt over the surfaces. “Axis: Thrones of Love,” “Execution,” and the creepy pulse of “Outside Love” take their ‘60s roots and tweak them with the shoegazer polish of the early ‘90s without directly quoting either. “While We Were Dreaming” casts a line towards the Flaming Lips’ mellow end, the vocals drifting to the skies with a dreamer’s ear for melody and falsetto. The overall effect is indeed “trippy” and timeless, adhering to a tradition in alternative rock established by the likes of the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, and other keepers of the lysergic renaissance.