People coming into this post thinking ‘what the hell? I thought he was making a new Black Mountain album!?’ let me immediately allay your fears: Stephen McBean is coming to the completion of a new Black Mountain album. And a new Pink Mountaintops album. And this new album from his new project Grim Tower is now far off. In fact, the real headline here should be “Stephen McBean is leading a triple life.”
Grim Tower is a two-man project with Imaad Wasif, who has in the past toured with Yeah Yeah Yeahs. McBean and Wasif apparently spent a bunch of time jamming together, and what came of it was so promising that they decided to make it a proper project.
Speaking to Exclaim! McBean says “Imaad and I sat in my backyard improvising with strangely detuned acoustic guitars for a few months then started sifting through the tapes and recording the stuff we considered the cream.” As for influences McBean says “Throbbing Gristle, Current 93 and Kenneth Anger were all an influence.”
Not only have they been recording, but the duo has played a live show and they’ve got a pretty impressive lineup to beef out their sound. Dan Allaire of Brian Jonestown Massacre plays drums while Darker My Love’s Rob Barbato plays bass.
Grim Tower do not have a label or release confirmed for their album, but McBean has already decided on the title which will be Anarchic Breezes. He hopes to release it in the new year.
This may sound like a little hobby, but anyone who has heard Pink Mountaintops can tell you that McBean treats his side projects just like he treats his main band, so this is one to look forward to. Grim Tower have a Facebook page, but the only picture they have up is of a, well, pretty grim-looking tower. You can see it below.
