Mountain

Ohio-based trio Heartless Bastards garnered enough acclaim for their first two albums to put their third, THE MOUNTAIN, in the "highly anticipated" category. Fortunately, the band didn't make any hasty changes to their sound here, which seems to have developed very organically from the earlier recordings. The arrangements remain raw, spare, and largely subdued, with Erika Wennerstrom's distinctive Patti Smith-meets-Dusty Springfield vocals the dominant force on tracks that seem equally conversant with Detroit garage-punk, deep soul, and American roots music.