The Mountain Movers

Mountain Movers originated in New Haven, Connecticut during the mid-2000s when singer, songwriter, and guitarist Daniel Greene established the project as a close-knit, folk-leaning platform for his own material. Greene had previously achieved notable success, above all in the U.K., alongside longtime associate Jeff Greene (no relation) in the enduring indie pop outfit the Butterflies of Love, which issued multiple albums through London’s Fortuna POP! label. By that point Greene had accumulated an extensive stock of unrecorded solo pieces, so he assembled a changing roster of local players to commit them to tape. The resulting 2006 debut, We’ve Walked in Hell and There Is Life After Death, appeared on regional imprint Safety Meeting Records and presented an introspective yet spirited fusion of streamlined indie rock with touches of soul and alt-country. A somewhat heavier follow-up, Let’s Open Up the Chest, arrived the next year.

Further disparate and psychedelic currents entered the writing on 2009’s The Day Calls Out for You and the home-recorded 2010 album Apple Mountain. After the latter release the group settled into a fixed configuration of bassist Rick Omonte, drummer Ross Menze, and lead guitarist Kryssi Battalene, whose additional affiliations include Colorguard, Medication, and Headroom. The newly amplified guitar approach prompted a run of limited experimental outings on cassette, 7-inch, and lathe-cut formats. Their 2015 LP Death Magic expanded the ragged textures into more commanding territory, after which the band aligned with Chicago’s Trouble in Mind Records. The self-titled sixth album, tracked soon afterward and issued in early 2017, leaned further into improvisation and open-ended exploration. Subsequent touring pushed the sound toward looser, freer spaces that sat midway between the rootsy, guitar-driven style associated with Crazy Horse-era Neil Young and the more extreme noise of acts such as Les Rallizes Dénudés. In 2018 the quartet toured alongside Howlin’ Rain, issued the August EP New Jam, and delivered seventh album Pink Skies in October. Three years passed before eighth album World What World emerged in 2021; though still rooted in the preceding noisy approach, it emphasized dynamic restraint and a reflective, somewhat world-weary lyric stance. The ninth release, 2024’s double album Walking After Dark, was recorded, mixed, and performed entirely by the members themselves and alternated between hazy psychedelic compositions and extended collective improvisations.