A record that neatly blends traditional rock-and-roll forms and the anarchic spirit of post-punk, World What World is one of this week's best offerings. The Trouble in Mind Records release from Mountain Movers pummels and soothes in equal measure. And there's genuine fire within these grooves.
"I Wanna See The Sun" is The Byrds on a bad trip, while "Final Sunset" is equal parts Buffalo Springfield and Velvet Underground. And with those, World What World kicks off. "Then The Moon" ratchets things down to a slow roar, while the elegiac "Haunted Eyes" peeks into a listener's soul. There's a traditionalism here in the work of Mountain Movers, but none of this feels too staid or safe, obviously. Mountain Movers, like The Feelies before them, understand how to blend these styles in such a way that the resulting material feels authentic, but not faux authentic, if you know what I mean?
Still, for all the pleasures of World What World, the closer, "Flock of Swans" is the cut that totally won me over. This one, all Lou Reed/Robert Quine squall, ambles around like something from The Dream Syndicate. That the fire here seems barely contained gives this one, and the rest of the compositions from Mountain Movers, a vibe that makes the music seem risky, and birthed almost as if it was jazz fusion. Still, there's a line from the best Neil Young to this, and with the exception of Steve Wynn, there's not a lot of artists I could say that about.
[Photo: Ellen Goggins]
World What World is out today via Trouble in Mind Records.