How do you feel about rock? How about songs about The Hobbit? While Black Mountain don't play any obvious ones, they do play rock that's been compared to Tolkien-loving Led Zeppelin. The five British Columbians play thunderous psychedelic (some say stoner) rock that sometimes drops to a whisper, sometimes is toe-tapping, and sometimes is just heavy. And sometimes that's all in the same song, like the 8-minute "Tyrants".

Vocals are shared by Steve McBean, who also heads Pink Mountaintops, and Amber Webber, whose bluesy voice is a nice counterpoint and adds a lot to the songs. Touring behind their critically acclaimed second album, In the Future, the band is playing at the Rock and Roll Hotel tonight along with Bon Iver. They're also posting photos from the tour on Flickr.

Opener Bon Iver is Justin Vernon, and he plays mellow, gently acoustic music, kind of like Iron and Wine with a falsetto. If the album sounds like it was written in a lonely, snowy cabin in the woods, it's because it was. Vernon's previous band broke up after moving to North Carolina, and he returned home to northwestern Wisconsin, writing For Emma, Forever Ago in the cabin. The songs are sad and calm, reflecting the lonely time during which they were written — mostly just acoustic guitar, some brushed drums, and soft, Sigur Ros-ish strings. Bon Iver is an intentional misspelling of bon hiver, French for "good winter."

Photo from Black Mountain's MySpace

The whole album is streamable online, and it should be an interesting comparison, Pitchfork-approved quiet acoustic rock followed by Pitchfork-approved not at all quiet or acoustic rock.

NPR will be broadcasting the show live, and Black Mountain will be on Conan O'Brien on Thursday.

Rock and Roll Hotel doors are at 8 pm, the show starts at 8:30. $12.