Heartless Bastards

Since 2005, Heartless Bastards have been writing traditional blues-rock that they record in a simple and more or less lo-fi manner, which means they bleed authenticity from both ends. So the cleaner and more carefully arranged sound of their latest album, The Mountain, is a new step for them. From the opening title track, it sounds like a confident one. A muffled guitar introduces the simple minor-key progression, but then the whole band kicks in, stretching the sound from pan-and-scan to widescreen, while a soaring electric slide guitar adds to the song's understated majesty. Producer Mike McCarthy has done a fine job of making the band sound clean without being antiseptic, but the focus is very much on the dirty guitars and the voice of frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom. Her voice is distinctive, powerful, and exudes an easy lived-in authority; it's the kind of voice any band playing this kind of straightforward rock would die to have fronting them.
Heartless Bastards seem like their trying to grow and diversify without losing sight of themselves or their sound-- a tricky undertaking since they've made it thus far on bare-bones rock. But even with the added touches, The Mountain still a pretty austere affair. The most ostentatious moments are the record's softer ones. "Wide Awake" is one example, with its reserved strum augmented by mandolins, a martial drumbeat, and Wennerstrom singing an ambitious, vaguely Eastern-sounding vocal melody (Led Zeppelin III seems seems like the band's North star on how to add depth). "Early in the Morning" and "Out at Sea" are more typical plugged-in mid-tempo stompers, the latter having a few overdubs and incidental noise that slyly suggest a psychedelic touch. "Nothing Seems the Same" is that song's simmering cousin, gradually building and receding without ever bursting through, with some of the same production touches.
If anything drags The Mountain down, it's tempo. The title track is immediately deflated by the acoustic campfire strum of the following "Could Be So Happy", though the simple ascending chorus promises that it'll linger in listeners' minds once it's over. . "Hold Your Head High", however, is maudlin world-weary, little-help-from-my-friends tripe that even Wennerstrom's voice, hammering every brassy high note within reach, can't save. "So Quiet" is another folky detour, with a string chart that screams starched collars in comparison to the band's blue ones, and they follow that right up with "Had to Go", more acoustic fun with added banjo and fiddle. Compared with the record's earlier slow songs, "Had to Go"'s languid tempo seems purposeful and patient, with Wennerstrom in total control of the melody-- but most arresting is the open space that they've allowed into the song. The last two songs signal a return to volume and normalcy, but while closing track "Sway" is a perky step sideways from the record's somber tone, "Witchypoo" is not nearly sublime enough to sustain its sluggish pace. With The Mountain, Heartless Bastards have shown that they have the tools and the talent to take at least tentative steps forward into a more ambitious and diverse sound. But it's surprising that they sound so introspective here when they could, and occasionally do, sound world-beating.
— Jason Crock, February 23, 2009

Do let me know what you think about this one

check em http://www.myspace.com/heartlessbastards