Spartan Records- June 26, 2020
Losing time with the Mineral frontman
Chris Simpson may not be a household name, but its not hard to recognize the influence of his previous efforts fronting Mineral and The Gloria Record in many artists today. Originally known as Zookeeper, Simpson changed the name of his solo project to Mountain Time, feeling it was more in line with the themes of time (specifically time running out) and growing up in Colorado. Mountain Time began recording in 2015 and shows Simpson going solo to explore alt-folk on their debut full-length Music for Looking Animals out now on Spartan Records. Taking clear inspiration from the folk movement of the 60s and 70s, Mountain Time sounds less like Simpson's previous work and more like Harry Nillson, but lyrically, that doesn't change the melancholic turns of phrase that Simpson excels at. Mountain Time may be musically minimalistic, but it is far from shallow.
The twangy opener “Rosemary, Etc”swells with brass, serenading a garden that seems like so much more than a plot of land before the haunting “Death Pause” evokes the loneliness and bleak beauty of Midwestern nights inside your own mind, looking out at the Rockies. Music for Looking Animals continues to strum along with horn accents and ebbs and flows of Simpson's voice. Descriptively singing about the peaceful chaos of silence that only a parent who has found respite on a pre-dawn front porch can recognize.
“Empty Graves” may be the track that best defines the entire album's sense of longing for simplicity without loneliness. Simpson croons “All the time in the whole universe, couldn't fill these empty graves, or these tables up with laughter, or sleeping heads with dreams,” reminding the listener of mortality and lack of hours to fill our days with joy. Mountain Time closes out the album with “Modern Living,” an eight-minute slow burning spiritual lifting spirits like the Serenity Prayer, reminding the listener to accept the things they cannot change. Mountain Time has made an accessible Americana album for the alt-folk crowd with deep lyrics and swelling harmonies.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed's musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he's self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/