Let's Be Creatures of the Night
I’ve been staring at this song for weeks, trying to find the right words to say. Maybe it’s because I heard it just a day or two after finally seeing Let the Right One In, and that movie was still fresh in my mind when Stephen McBean was singing about Vampires. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want them to sing about vampires at all, what with them being this major cultural phenomenon and all that. So I searched into the lyrics, hoping that it wasn’t overtly about vampires, but only sort of about vampires (like the let the right one in) and more about relationships and interesting things. But no, it’s pretty much just about vampires.
And now, weeks later, I have decided that this is totally valid, and totally fits in with the rest of the record, and with Pink Mountaintops catalog in general. It’s easy to forget that McBean has a great sense of humor and isn’t exactly serious most of the time. Sure, things like that the last Black Mountain record can seem serious as cancer, but remember Modern Music?
So here’s he’s got this great idea about vampires, creatures in flight and all that, and it’s epic and awesome, with a beautiful arrangement and backing vocals from Amber Weber and it totally kicks ass.
He’s grown Pink Mountaintops from their humble acoustic beginnings to something full featured and thick. It’s pulpy and gorgeous as the velvet blanket on the album cover. Each song deals with some kind of relationship, and this one just happens to deal with vampires. Overtly. Fuck metaphors. Who needs ‘em. You can suck out his blood but you can’t kill the heart of his love. This is a real thing.
You should really buy this album on Cinqo de Mayo, when it comes out. It’s going to be stuck on repeat for ages.