Mountaintops (album) explained

Mountaintops
Type:Studio album
Artist:Mates of State
Cover:Mates_of_state_mountaintops.jpg
Alt:The cover features a mountain being partially covered by dots. The band's name and album title are centered on the cover, colored in black.
Released:September 13, 2011
Studio:
  • Studio 1973 (Brooklyn)
  • Tarquin Studios (Bridgeport)
Genre:Indie pop
Length:37:23
Label:Barsuk
Producer:Mates of State
Prev Title:Crushes (The Covers Mixtape)
Prev Year:2010
Next Title:Greats
Next Year:2015

Mountaintops is the seventh album by American indie pop band Mates of State. It was released through Barsuk on September 13, 2011.[1] The song "Palomino" was featured in a 15-second Ice Breakers commercial where a man and a woman share a cab in a rainy night.

Reception

Mountaintops received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 18 reviews.

Robert Christgau gave it an A− and wrote that "the wholeness of the music leaves us feeling they're more than OK." Spin gave the album a 7/10, writing, "Mountaintops has plenty of upbeat romps, but the most compelling moments are the epic, minor-key laments 'At Least I Have You' and 'Unless I'm Led,' which argue that even the truest of loves can still feel lonely and miserable."

Paste placed Mountaintops at number 49 on their "Top 50 Albums of 2011" list. The magazine's writer Carey Hodges said: "On Mountaintops, the band's seventh full-length, the pair delivers more of their polished pop while tastefully showcasing a handful of warped turns that partner lush synths with minor-key experiments."[2]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[3]

Mates of State

Additional musicians

Technical

Imagery

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mates of State announce new album, Mountaintops. Coplan. Chris. Consequence of Sound. June 9, 2011. July 7, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20230117030336/https://consequence.net/2011/06/mates-of-state-announce-new-album-mountaintops/. January 17, 2023. live.
  2. The 50 Best Albums of 2011. Jackson. Josh. Paste. November 29, 2011. April 1, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20230328012048/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-50-best-albums-of-2011. March 28, 2023. live.
  3. Mountaintops. Mates of State. Barsuk. 2011. liner notes. BARK 119.