Kevin Bronson on July 12th, 2012

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Having Neil Young take a shine to your band from the get-go must be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s Neil Young and holy crap he wants us to open for him. On the other (and I only intuit this), you’re writing your second or third or fourth album and you’re thinking WWND (What Would Neil Do?). This comes to mind as I again listen Everest’s third album, “Ownerless,” which came out in late June on ATO Records. Everest’s first two albums, “Ghost Notes” on Young’s Vapor Records in 2008 and “On Approach” for Warner in 2010, were powerful if linear displays of American rock made by seasoned, technically gifted musicians who know exactly what American rock is supposed to sound like. “Ownerless” is far less beholden to a single notion. Whether it’s the piecemeal production (some songs with the master of whimsy Richard Swift, some with “On Approach’s” Rob Schnapf, some themselves) or the simple need to stretch out, “Ownerless” actually feels less grown-up than Everest’s first two outings. Less owned, if you will, by expectations and their own history. As suggested by the video for the title track (helmed by the directing duo known as the General Assembly), there’s a vast landscape out there.

||| Live: Everest and Alberta Cross play July 24 at the Troubadour.

||| Previously: “Raking Me Over the Coals,” “Rapture” and “Into the Grey.”