Heartless Bastards

The Mountain

[3.5/5]



In an earlier lifetime, Erika Wennerstrom would have been Southern-rock royalty, slugging shots of Jim Beam and spitting fire in biker bars while busting the balls of backwoods, eight-toothed Romeos. But in this modern age, she’s simply an undiscovered American treasure, with each album grittier and more layered than the last. The Mountain brings a new rhythm section to town-an rejuvenating transfusion for the band-and Appalachian banjo and high-art violin swirls. But what never changes is Wennerstrom, wailing, sighing and testifying through bluesy mediations on the landscapes of love, making the trip to The Mountain the best these Bastards have yet to offer. (FAT POSSUM; fatpossum.com) Erick Haight