According to frontman James Nugent, “If you want to know what rock will sound like in 10 years, just listen to Mountain Con” – appropriate words for music that upholds its bid with Sancho Panza, a diversely woven album that pulls from genres as polar as folk and electronic. Named after the copper mine in Butte, Montana, Seattle-based Mountain Con also includes members Ben Erickson, Pierre Ferguson, Sweed, Pledge and punk rock icon, Mike Watt, who pioneered with the likes of Minutemen and Firehose.
The record itself (Mountain Con’s third release) withholds nothing as it divulges into its funky pop rock. “Apocalyptic” bounces on the cloud of its super-hero air, while “Devotion Is So 20th Century” laments in swoon-fulls of endearment. “To Infinity” incorporates synth blips as “Rocket Out of Trash” makes its way forward, optimistically declaring “I ain’t afraid anymore” with building bass lines. A soundtrack fit for all aspects of the everyday, Sancho Panza presents the unfiltered freshness of music that, against all judgment, catches you undeniably in the mood best left to better days – no strings attached.
