Mountain Climer - Before You Turn Out the Lights (2025) Hi-Res

Slice of life storytelling and deft genre hopping keep Mountain Climer’s latest fresh and intriguing. Mountain Climer is the alias of Indiana native singer-songwriter Jeremy Climer. “Before You Turn Out the Lights” moves beyond Climer’s pop punk beginnings by adding a laid-back layer of country and roots rock. Its first two tracks, ‘American Oak’ and ‘Not Friends Anymore,’ trilling mandolins, slide guitars, dancing piano lines and strings introduce an amiable country-folk vibe. But things quickly take a darker, rockier turn with the next song, ‘From a Bedroom in Denver,’ which sounds like a spooky electric version of Springsteen’s ‘State Trooper’ from his “Nebraska” album. A lone sorrowful violin and funky pulsing bass set the stage for the brooding chill of ‘Cut Enough Wood,’ a cautionary tale of a rural older couple realising too late that they may not survive the oncoming winter weather. The melodic, sweeping ‘Horrible Things’ brightens the proceedings, musically anyway, but its chorus warns, “Love means knowing you’re capable of horrible things.” Its pop leanings and goth-like lyrics are very much like The Cure, though it’s hard to imagine Robert Smith affecting Climer’s Southern drawl.

The second half of “Before You Turn Out the Lights” is more reflective than the first. Only the manic ‘A Song for Mindy’ detours into eerie guitar-driven surfabilly territory. Both the moving generation-spanning family saga ‘Ray’ and end-o-life shuffle ‘Paper Gowns’ reprise the album’s earlier gentle country style. The mysterious blues of ‘River City’ uses ambient cinematic effects and a sobbing violin interlude to reflect the lonely midnight desperation expressed in its lyrics. The album closes with the mournful piano ballad ‘We Don’t Start Fights’ that has a man holding his daughter’s hand in front of his spouse’s grave.

Mountain Climer’s vivid slice of life storytelling and deft genre hopping keep “Before You Turn Out the Lights” fresh and intriguing. Whatever moniker Jeremy Climer may go under, he’s well worth watching.