Outside Love

Pink Mountaintops (aka Stephen McBean and friends) generally make albums clearly defined by a big idea. After covering sex on his debut, and the post-9/11 climate of fear and war on AXIS OF EVOL, McBean allows himself to sigh and dream on OUTSIDE LOVE, an album whose unifying sentiment is good lovin'. Foregoing the sinister vibes of its predecessors, McBean revels in the sweet stuff all over OUTSIDE LOVE. He chimes on "And I Thank You" that "(t)onight I'm in love with all the lovers" and on the ebullient "Holiday" he claims "Everyone I love deserves a holiday in the sun" over mandolins, strings, and Dylan-y harmonica.
Another standout includes the leadoff, "Axis: Thrones of Love"--a rousing rewrite of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey" (itself a rewrite of the Ronette's "Be My Baby")--which continues McBean's practice of pilfering whatever famous lyric he fancies ("How deep is your love?" is the repeated refrain here). Bolstered by his Black Mountain bandmates (particularly Amber Webber, who provides her indelible harmonies throughout the record and takes the lead on "While We Were Dreaming") and many other indie luminaries, McBean continues his run of unabashedly revisionist--and sublimely executed--classic rock.