Speck Mountain: Summer Above

I have no idea where Speck Mountain is, but I do know the band named after it take their good old time settling into the warm, soothing title track. Part indie-rock, part Americana and with a dash of jazz to boot, it sounds like some melding of The Velvet Underground with Lambchop. “Hey Blue” is a slightly darker affair that brings to mind Canadian indie rock darlings Eric’s Trip. Perhaps the prettiest number of this album is the wistful, lengthy and lovely “Girl Out West” that has a lot in common with The Jesus And Mary Chain without the signature fuzzed-out feedback. But it’s lead singer Marie-Claire Balabanian’s vocals which seal the deal on much of the material, particularly the ‘50s sounding “Midnight Sun” and the spacey, Spiritualized-meets-Cowboy Junkies verve of “Fjord Song”.