CARCRASHLANDER – Mountains On Our Backs

Dreamy soundscapes full of tweaked tones meet driving guitars on the newest album from Carcrashlander. This nine-track album rides like an audio road trip taking the listener through scenic ambient lows full soft tones, only to turn the corner and become thrown full-throttle into a raging instrumental barrage of guitars and effects.

The title track opens up the album with a mellow beat and feel but ends in a hectic guitar solo full of twisted peddle effects, all while the mellow beat plays along until the end. The vocals throughout this effort remain calm, even haunting. This remains the case during some of the heavier tracks like “Quoting Dead Comedians.”

One of the simpler but equally impressive songs was “Bone Noose” with its quasi-vintage surf sound, definitely a highlight of the album. Besides the use of peddle effects on guitars, there’s also the cleaver use of electronic feedback and even some trumpets, vibes, and flutes. I was impressed with the fact that even as the members of this band improvise into instrumental chaos on several of the tracks, it all comes to an end with the very mellow beat that started the song. It’s as if the beat survives the madness and continues on into the next track in order do it all over again.

Mountains On Our Backs will take you on a rollercoaster ride of sounds and leave you wanting more. Even through all of the intense musical intervals that dominate this album, you will be left feeling calm, yet musically satisfied.

(Jealous Butcher Records, PO Box 14306, Portland, OR 97293-0306