Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

Interband breakups always make for inspired recordings. The Heartless Bastards' third album and first since guitarist/vocalist Erika Wennerstrom split with longtime boyfriend/bassist Mike Lamping and relocated to Austin, The Mountain proves no exception. A sense of detachment and displacement lingered throughout 2006's All This Time, and here those feelings are stripped to the core, especially on the stark, solo, acoustic "Be So Happy," revealing a raw beauty that evokes the lo-fi, back-porch blues of the Bastards' Fat Possum labelmates.