Pacific Range – High Upon the Mountain
High crested mountain peaks giving way to arid, sweeping, open horizons; lush, ancient forests; hurtling through a canyon before the road breaks open to a vast and sparkling sunlit surf – Pacific Range’s debut full-length LP High Upon the Mountain is Curation Records’ first official release. The album takes listeners on a sonic tour of West Coast sound, the array of landscapes and sensations California offers mirrored by the band’s broad scope of sounds and influences.
The four-piece, consisting of singer/guitarist Seamus Turner, bassist Cameron Wehrle, drummer Nate Ward, and keyboardist and guitarist Stewart Forgey, is the latest thread in the weaving of Cosmic California tapestry. There’s something thoroughly classic and timeless about Pacific Range, drawing parallels to the likes of the Mamas and the Papas, the Youngbloods, and the Allman Brothers. Laurel Canyon sounds ring throughout, but there’s also something completely modern and fresh at work. Mountain is sweeping and scenic, a highly visual, synesthetic masterpiece with so much heart.
The title track opens the album, the loping, inviting head-bopper fans will likely already know by heart. Vocalists Jade Castrino’s and Nikki Segal’s harmonies blend with Turner’s and reach dizzying heights, particularly on tracks like “Studio Walk,” with its wandering, waltzing keys, and “Santa Monica (Through the Canyon)”, a celebratory ode to the band’s adopted home. “Rainbow Song” is so achingly lovely with the sweetest slide, while producer Dan Horne’s sweet pedal steel provides a natural and lovely accompaniment to Turner’s vivid wails on “Guiding the Mast,” floating by on a cloud of light.
Despite the record’s amiable, laid-back nature, each song is so tight and perfectly packaged in bite-sized doses as the band experiments and explores. As the album progresses, the jams swell and the guitar parts and keys become increasingly jaw-dropping, particularly in the lengthier tracks “Need a Little Rain,” the meandering journey of “Boulevard Indigo,” and the album closer “Nothing Else More.”
The easiest comparison one could make is to the Dead, which feels lazy but is only true because so few other bands who jam can transcend genre so adeptly and subtly, taking the best pieces from country-rock, surf rock, jazz, blues, and psychedelia to craft a seamless patchwork resonance. Equally rare is a band that can noodle as proficiently as Pacific Range, and then turn around to display such a delicate, silky hand.
Pacific Range is the real deal, uniting heads of various ages and tastes in a unanimous appreciation for the band’s ageless yet youthful take on classical cosmic country music. This record is only eclipsed by their live shows, where the four-some is given ample room to expand, perfecting their delivery and leaving the whirling audience wanting more.
Get the record from Curation Records now or listen via YouTube.
