Black Mountain
Wilderness Heart
Jagjaguwar

Emerging from the deep woods of Canada’s rocky west coast is Black Mountain, and not unlike the California day-glo pranksters of decades ago, they’re amped, hairy, and unpredictable, a reclusive gang armed with a mind-fuck manifesto to take you further. Black Mountain’s power and glory psych-rock is usually a strange and wonderful trip down various avenues of electric mayhem, but Wilderness Heart, their third full-length, showcases the band at their most diverse. While songs like the title track, “Old Fangs,” and  “Roller Coaster” bring the Iron Butterfly-meets-Bigelf heavy organ and nightmare doom heard on 2008′s In the Future, it’s the acid-fried acoustic songs “Radiant Hearts,” “Buried By the Blues,” “The Way to Gone,” “The Space of Your Mind,” and “Sadie” that shine brightest, each one of ‘em full of stardust and soul. If that ain’t enough for ya, opener “The Hair Song” is a beautifully-crafted, Zeppelin-inspired slide shaker, while “Let Spirits Ride” is built like a hot rod, running fast on MC5 fuzz and NWOBHM riffs. There’s not one song on Wilderness Hearts that doesn’t benefit from the killer chemistry of vocal duo Stephen McBean and Amber Webber, and there’s not one song on Wilderness Heart that’s not far-out and really fucking good.

Check out two videos — “Old Fangs” and “The Hair Song” — from Wilderness Heart! Cool fact: The video for “The Hair Song” contains footage shot in and around my hometown, and my old stomping ground, Call the Office. Dig it!

“Merlin wasn’t real.”
“Fuck you Merlin wasn’t real.”
“It’s a story.”
“Merlin was part of King Henry’s court and he fucking won all the wars for him ’cause he cast spells. Fuck you, man. That shit’s real.”
“He was part of King Arthur, not King Henry…”
“Yeah, it’s a fable. A fable is history.”

Ah, FUBAR. Amazing. But you know something? Deaner got it absolutely right. A fable is history. The divide between truth and fiction has long since vanished and wizards walk — or, rather, rock — amongst us. I know. So what you’re about to read, everything I’m about to tell you of the outlaw Gideon Smith and his court of motorcycle madmen, The Dixie Damned, may sound like pure cowboy fantasy, a Southern-fried fairy tale full of tumbleweed, rattlers, whiskey, blood, dust, ghosts, and backwoods psychedelia, but it’s simply this: the narcotic we desire most.

Gideon, the Charlotte, North Carolina native, began life as a wizard when he apprenticed at the faithful and frenzied school of Destructo Maximus as a roadie while under the bloody-faced tutelage of Jeff Clayton and his band of wrestlin’ lovin’ murder junkies, ANTiSEEN. The years he spent in that chaotic foxhole, surrounded by barb wire and explosives, arm in arm with the Confederacy of Scum, would spark in him a desire to branch out on his own. So, in 1997, Gideon took that giant leap into outlaw territory with some former Animal Bag members, now dubbed The Dixie Damned.

Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned spin a swampy brand of blues-infused doom rock, a heavy dose of Southern boogie n’ groove with a hairy chest and meat cleavers for hands. They mix the super-sized spirituality of The Cult with the chain gang riffs of Circus of Power and end up with a shamanistic brand of trippy, bad-ass, redneck biker rock. Gideon’s vocals might be some of the most recognizable in all of rock n’ roll, rolling out of his diaphragm like they’re coming up from the bottom of a well, where Elvis’ bloated carcass floats face down in bong water. The band released a self-titled EP some time after forming, but it wasn’t until 2004′s full-length, Southern Gentlemen, that word came down that there was a new wizard in town.

But, like a wizard is wont to do, Gideon vanished for a few years, appearing only on various tribute albums and compilations. He spent his years in exile dealing with death and cultivating is outlaw way of life, recording some spoken word/poetry stuff on such themes as paganism, the occult, the power of positive thinking, beauty, creativity, and strength, and writing his manifesto, Way of the Outlaw Spirit. Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned returned to the fold with a six-song EP, Dealin’ Decks, and their second full-length in 2008, South Side of the Moon.

So, what’s Gideon up to now? How goes it in the world of this particular wizard, this rock n’ roll outlaw? What bearded mischief has he been up to? Well, I take council with the man himself, my brother in both wizardry and beard, and we discuss such epic matters as his new album, what it means to be an outlaw, what it means to be a wizard (and how we can’t actually discuss anything to do with wizardry because it’s all top secret), and, of course, beards. There’s even an uncomfortable moment when I mention something about a girl and some chains. This is the stuff you crave, my friend. This is the fable of truth.

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Year Long Disaster
Black Magic; All Mysteries Revealed
Volcom Entertainment

It’s always a real pain in the ass when someone tries introducing me to a band by saying, “they’re the best band you’ve never heard of” and that’s mostly because I have heard of them, and merely suggesting I haven’t heard of them insinuates that I, unlike the much cooler, more maligned you, have my bearded head buried deep inside the business end of a pregnant alpaca.

That being said, Year Long Disaster is the best band you’ve never heard of.

I know. I’m such a dick. But forget about that right now and just pay attention.

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