Speck Mountain are an ambient-soul band possessed as much by the grit of southern soul as the spell of infinite drones. Co-leaders Karl Briedrick and Marie-Claire Balabanian provoke each other with intuitive, womb-curled melody, exploded texture, and spiky, strutting rhythm—and so far I’m just talking about the guitars. Marie-Claire also keeps a full-sized Aretha loaded in her throat like some kind of ungodly spring reverb, but has the sense to only let her uncoil just enough, never overdoing it. Karl and Marie-Claire fill out the songs with lyrics in thrall to the mysteries of compulsion, and the ache and rapture of giving in.
Sonically Speck Mountain are in thrall to vintage effects and recording techniques, although they’re always looking for the future rather than the past. Their studio mixes are subtle and painstaking, booby-trapped all over with headphone-happy detail. Their live sets project a loose, narcotic swagger, taking off from atmospheric majesty into full-on hypnotic assault.
Signed to Carrot Top Records, Karl and Marie-Claire continue to run the Burnt Brown Sounds label out of Chicago.
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US Press Contact: [email protected] / 248.336.9696
UK Press Contact: [email protected] / 0161 228 2070
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Press for SOME SWEET RELIEF:
THE TIMES (UK) - "4/5. what matters here is the voice of Marie-Claire Balabanian, which carves out a territory bordered on the one side by Hope Sandoval and Margo Timmins, and on the other side by Chan Marshall and Neko Case. Meanwhile, the guitarist, Karl Briedrick, takes his cues from the Velvets’ third album and late-1960s Stones."
Q - "a heavily addictive, comfortably numbing kind of experience."
MOJO - "their echoey shimmer has the ghostly quality of mist on the bayou."
KEXP - "sends a medulla-melting euphoria through the base of one’s skull."
NPR - "...dreamy, impressionistic, and ambient. Like sunlight shining through a gauzy curtain, Balabanian's rich vocals are simultaneously hazy, distant and piercing."
PREFIX MAG - 8/10 "I could sit here all day and write about Balabanian's beautiful voice, or the collection of dreamy songs on Some Sweet Relief. I could keep rambling on about the intricate guitar work and bittersweet atmosphere of the album. I could discuss its subtle moves between pop and country and soul and R&B. But, in the end, it isn't these things, taken together or separately, that make the album great. In the end, the way Some Sweet Relief comes together is inexplicable, in a way."
SKYSCRAPER - “Moony roots pop…the groups gentle psychedelia is amply thinned with the laid-back folk-rock of the 1970’s and layered over VU-style hypnotically churning bluesy rhythm beds."
ALL MUSIC - 4/5 Stars "For those raised on dream pop bands and space rock songs, Some Sweet Relief sounds somewhat timeless, a 40-minute offering of neo-psych gospel that's more polished, more promising, and altogether stronger than most of the band's contemporaries."
VENUS - 4.5/5 Stars “Balabanian’s voice leads the way from soft coos to bluesy wails. Pulsating electric guitar riffs, creepy organ chords, and campfire-style backing harmonies round out each track, practically compelling the listener to lay back, turn out the lights, and stay awake until the last note fades."
OTHER MUSIC (NYC) - "The songs are all slow and hazy, with a bit of the cosmic gospel inflection you hear in Spiritualized, or perhaps what a grittier take on Beach House might sound like... Great stuff, and I can't wait to hear what they do next."
PICCADILLY RECORDS (UK) - "Simply beautiful."
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