Monday, June 22, 2009

Pitchfork states Speck Mountain "aims towards the sky"

This subtle ascension seems to come from an injection of soul. As Some Sweet Relief progresses, song structures lean toward the realm of spirituals and blues, and Balabanian's supine purr begins to feel more classic. You won't mistake Speck Mountain for a gospel group, but it's fair to say that, at least during the album's second half, they sound more like Spiritualized than Mazzy Star. Take the phasey organ of the aching "Backslider", which seems ghostwritten by Sonic Boom, or the slow croon of its partner track "Backsliding", whose staircase-climb has a distinct Jason Pierce tint circa "Shine a Light". It all leads to another sharp peak, "Twinlines", whose simple chorus-- "Oh, how long," delivered in a pretty Balabanian moan-- belongs distinctly to this band...there's no law that says mellowness can't reach as high as energy-- especially when, as with Speck Mountain, it's permanently aimed towards the sky.--Marc Masters, Pitchfork