A delightful and ageless debut album offering from the fabulous Leicester quintet Mountaintop Junkshop. From the opening piano of the title track, this album really does take you on a lovely little (mis)adventure.
Chief songwriter Jon Bennett, alongside wife Amy Cooper, showcase the more gentle side of their Jekyll and Hide music persona, the guitar riffs of sister band We Three and the Death Rattle giving way to the lovely violin lead folk on offer here.
From sitting in Central Park on the superb title track, we’re then in a smokey Western saloon bar for the marvellous ‘Holy Hell’, where Natasha Pattinson’s lush violin dances over the top of the song like a water sprite on a tranquil, silver lake.
On listening closely to ‘Rain & Transit‘, it’s apparent how great a job Dave Fellows on Bass and Katie Shields on drums make of holding down the backbeat, so the others can weave their intricate threads around it.
Back in the sixties when Sonny & Cher were at their peak with interactive him/her songs like ‘The Beat Goes on’ or to the present day with the likes of First Aid Kit, etc, those acts would have been proud to have the beautiful ‘I’m Still Looking For the Light’ in their repertoire. Jon & Amy perform this wonderfully; a Johnny & June for the 2020s. It’s a wonderful song and worth the price of the vinyl on its own.
Luckily a track of such magnitude also has another strong one to follow. This being ‘Bandits’ – a song about not giving up when the chips are down and one of the first written for the album.
Had the album been called Melodic Ditties then it would have certainly lived up to the title.
I love Amy’s piano playing throughout, not overstated, but doing the right things at the right time, none more so than on ‘Bullets and Love’ where Jon’s disciplined, but vital guitar licks do just enough to enhance this song about, er.. bullets and love, not forgetting vampires and cocaine of course.
If Natasha’s playing was less prominent on that occasion, then it sets the tone perfectly for ‘Ambulance Moon‘ where it soars and shimmers throughout. The album finales with the perfect ‘5000 Visions’, starting with Jon’s narrative before interacting with Amy’s vocals. A song about the realisations and redemptions we struggle with in our everyday lives. Every great album needs a strong finish and that’s what we get. If you want to take a chance on a new band for your collection then here’s your opportunity.
So have we been on a misadventure? Of course, but this is more than that. It’s an album about life and living it through experience. It’s about the dark and light within all of us. This is an album choc full of messages, delivered with the cohesion and temperance of a very good band indeed.
Catch Mountainshop Junkshop in store at HMV, Leicester at 12.30pm on Saturday 12th April, where they’ll be playing a selection of these songs and you will be able to buy the album.
