BLITZEN TRAPPER - Wild Mountain Nation Review

Blitzen Trapper have self-released three albums since 2003, including their latest, Wild Mountain Nation. The struggle of DIY indie bands can be over-romanticized, but in the case of Blitzen Trapper, the freedom to work at their own pace is most likely what brought them to come up with the cock-eyed stylistic blitzkrieg of Wild Mountain Nation....full text For Portland, Oregon's Blitzen Trapper to name its third album Wild Mountain Nation makes perfect sense -- and not because of the country western textures (and one front-porch hoedown) that run through it. It's a fitting title because the band has seceded from the quirky but lackluster indie of its previous two releases. On their new album, the members of Blitzen Trapper unfurl their flag and plant it deep into new territory. It's a lawless country where styles and influences roam like the fabled deer and antelope: the disjointed but mathematical riffing of opener "Devil's A-Go-Go"; the Big Star balladry of "Summer Town"; and the mock Southern rock of the infectious title track. It's an intoxicating and playful mix of extremes, a kindred spirit of Olivia Tremor Control's indiscriminating love of sugary '70s AM pop and noisy experimentation....full text “There exist few days as blissfully insouciant as today.” This thought occurs to me as I open the Wild Mountain Nation CD case, and extract this, the third album by Portland, Oregon’s Blitzen Trapper. The faint smell of new plastic is carried off by the afternoon breeze as, somewhere in the distance, a sparrow sings and begins to take flight. “Yes,” I say aloud, pouring a glass of sherry, “there is good fortune in this album.” And indeed, sitting languidly on my chaise longue, I am treated to an exquisite aural delight. I grip my quill eagerly as I begin to listen to Blitzen Trapper....full text