Longing to Be the Mountain
King Buffalo do not hurry towards the heaviest part of a song. On Longing to Be the Mountain, the trio give repeating guitar lines, bass and drums time to settle before changing the pressure. That patience is the album's main attraction. The six tracks move between open psychedelic passages and stronger rock playing, with enough melody to give the longer pieces a clear shape.
Morning Song establishes the approach. Bird calls lead into a gentle guitar arrangement, with acoustic and electric parts leaving space around the voice. The bass and drums gradually make their presence felt. When the heavier playing arrives, it has a solid foundation beneath it, making the change feel connected to what came before.
The three shorter songs help the record keep moving. Sun Shivers has a firm bass line and a more immediate rhythm. Cosmonaut starts with a lighter, jangling guitar sound before opening into a wider psychedelic arrangement. Quickening uses a repeating guitar figure and a less straightforward beat to create tension, then gives the lead playing room to develop.
The title track returns to the longer form. Keyboards introduce a measured build, with the guitar and rhythm section moving through several changes in weight. Eye Of The Storm starts with more activity in the drums and keeps that movement underneath the heavier riffs. Its later build gives the album a strong finish before the sound gradually falls away.
There are moments when the patience becomes a limitation. The calm singing and repeated patterns can make the longer songs feel too close in mood, even when their structures differ. Listeners who need frequent changes of pace may find some stretches too settled. The shorter tracks are useful reminders of how direct this band can be.
Even so, Longing to Be the Mountain has a convincing balance of space and force. The musicians give each other room, and the best guitar passages grow naturally from the rhythm beneath them. It is an absorbing second album whose strongest moments reward the time they take to arrive.
