Big Mountain County – Deep Drives (2024)
Italian outfit Big Mountain County are hitting us with their third studio album Deep Drives. With a sound that oozes attitude with clear electro roots but a punk edge. The dark vibrant sound is something I’ve always associated with the post-punk era, from bands such as Bauhaus and Wire, and has been adopted perfectly by Big Mountain County, whilst putting their own electro slant on it.
The opening bars of the opening track ‘Going Down’ set the tone for the entire record. With a pumping drum beat and beating bass, this track is a solid way to start the record. The chanting vocals are like a rhythmic monologue of inner struggle.
Deep Drives continues in much the same vein, using all the tools at the disposal to keep the dark party vibe going. Stand-out tracks for me include ‘Follow Me’, a slower track, keeping the same dark tones, whilst using some wonderful guitar work to produce an ethereal sound that keeps you mesmerized as the track closes. Another of my personal favourite tracks comes straight after. ‘Electric Church’ is a track where I think the influence of the great Iggy Pop and the Stooges can be heard in all its glory. This song gave me the same feeling I had the first time I heard the legendary album Funhouse, it is as much a piece of art as simply a piece of music.
Rounding off this quite frankly brilliant record is the aptly named ‘Last Call’, which is exactly what it is, a great closing track for any album. I could see it being played to bring any great club night to a close across Europe, a perfect piece of electro-rock. The solid drum beat with some superbly delivered synths left me wanting more, so there was only one thing to do: go right back to ‘Going Down’ and start it all over again.
Having shared the stage with some other pioneers of their own sounds such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre and the OSEES, it is clear they can hold their own with these heavyweights. With a few shows in their native Italy to round out the year, followed by a small European tour in early 2025, they certainly aren’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon.
If, like me, you have got a taste for some Italian psych rock but they’re not playing near you anytime soon, then you’ll be as pleased as me to know there is plenty more to go at on Spotify with their two previous albums.
Find out more about Big Mountain County on their Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Spotify.
Listen to more psychedelic rock on The Other Side Reviews Psychedelic Rock playlist:
I can see Big Mountain County being a name I’m going to be hearing for a long time and is someone I’ll be talking about to anyone who’ll listen.
