Pink Mountaintops is Stephen Mcbean, who's been in numerous groups over the last two decades - a straight out punk outfit, a crusty punk/metal band, and most recently, a psych-tinged maximal rock group whose self-titled debut, "Black Mountain", captured a great amount of critical acclaim (and meteorically became Jagjaguwar's best-selling title). With "Axis Of Evol", Mcbean has once again created something much greater than the sum of his influences. The record almost immediately ramps up into a thumping, buzzing, blissful haze, at various parts sounding like The Velvet Underground or Spacemen 3 or The Jesus And Mary Chain, circa "Psycho Candy". At the end, the album segues into a hypnotic, Smog-like meditation. Throughout, Mcbean sings about love and war, the love of war and the war of love - on the body, on the mind, and on the soul. Experience the record, then think about it in more than one way.