When I first listened to The Mountain by the Heartless Bastards, it was a rainy, lonesome winter night, which was the perfect setting to highlight lead singer Erika Wennerstrom’s raw and despairing vocals. The Bastards had already put out two albums, but immediately prior to writing this one, Ohio-native Wennerstrom had parted ways with Mike Lamping, her boyfriend of 11 years and Heartless Bastards bandmate, and wrote the album after relocating to Austin and shutting herself away for six months. The result is a soulful album tinged with ache but determined to look forward, and with it Heartless Bastards are gaining rightfully earned media attention, including recently making their national television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman. They played SXSW last week and are on tour, this Friday appearing with The Gaslight Anthem at New York's epic Webster Hall. But first, in one of the few lulls of their busy schedule, Erika took some time to answer our brazenly invasive Pop Quiz.