Bristol’s mighty country-punks, Langkamer, imagine a life of unfettered luxury and the accompanying guilt on their latest single, ‘Mountain Lion‘, from their upcoming debut album, ‘West Country’.
Following the release of their singles ‘The Ugliest Man In Bristol’ and ‘Humdinger’, Langkamer, return with this sublime alt.country-infused slice of indie-rock, ‘Mountain Lion’. It’s from the mellower end of the band’s output, although dropping down a gear for this band is hardly out of character. For every raucous tune on the new album, there is a more delicate, pensive song and ‘Mountain Lion’ gives a glimpse into that mellower side of the forthcoming album.
The influences at work here are hard to pin down, but on this track there are shades of Sophtware Slump-era Grandaddy, Pavement, Silver Jews or even another jewel from the UK’s South West, Archie Bronson Outfit. But Langkamer definitely have their own thing going on, and it goes on very nicely indeed. The track opens with some edge of break-up guitar and great vocals from Joshua Jarman, one of these magnificent humans who can sing really well and play drums at the same time. For those of us who can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, it’s positively miraculous. The bass is suitably sinewy, and the guitars meander nicely, picking up intensity as the songs flows.
The lyrics reflect on the class anxieties and divisions in their hometown of Bristol. Jarman explains, “Near where I live, there’s a house for sale for three million pounds. It overlooks the Avon Gorge and comes with its own vineyard. ‘Mountain Lion’ imagines a future as the owner of this mansion, a life of unfettered luxury. It’s a song about middle-class guilt. About the relationship between your political beliefs and your social status, and the idea that the two can somehow cancel each other out.”
The band have already established an impressive track record for imaginative and very effective videos and this one doesn’t break that run. Simple but cleverly executed, it features nicely shot slow motion footage of the individual band members throwing themselves around in some lovely locations, and intercut with some other inventively unsettling footage. It all works very well with the song, but then everything seems to work well with the most excellent Langkamer.
Could they be the best new indie-rock-meets-alt.country band you haven’t heard yet? Have a listen and find out.
