I know I speak for Andy to when I say I just want to register our helpless excitement that we’ll finally get to see the Mountain Goats tomorrow.
For years we’ve loved the Mountain Goats so much that we can’t even be rational about the ‘band’. I say band in inverted commas, since Mountain Goats is essentially the moniker of prolific songwriter and all-round dude, John Darnielle.
Since the early nineties, JD has amassed a cult following of devoted followers (so you can treat this post as hyperbole if you like, but it’s not, right. It’s honest and pure 
) for his lo-fi approach to making music, his literary but relateable lyrics and his passionate (sometimes vehement) delivery.
More recently, though, JD has embraced more intricate instrumentation and arrangement, and though far from shiny, some of that lo-fi sound has been lost. This, I assume, has divided some fans and usually I’d find myself on the ‘more ramshackle, please’ side of the debate. But, if we have to compromise some rough around the edges for masterpieces like The Sunset Tree and Tallahassee then bring it on! And, you know what, the sound hasn’t been sterilised, it’s just got more depth. On top of that, John Darnielle’s lyrics have got even better, more mature and more laser guided.
Right now, John Darnielle is brining it! I’m loving the new album , All Eternals Deck, in spite of the fact that ‘Never Quite Free’ is just so beautiful, it threatens to derail the rest of the album – a relief that it’s the penultimate song! Other high points are opener ‘Damn These Vampires’ (‘sleep like dead men / wake up like dead men’), ‘Beautiful Gas Mask’ (which remarkably reminds me of of Montreal’s ‘Famine Affair’, minus the disco section!) and the bold ‘High Hawk Season’. But really, it’s a wonderfully consistent album, with no duds and no fillers, that I can’t wait to see live!
And Goats gigs are already legendary to me. I’ve heard a few gigs and live songs online which have just floored me. Take a live version of ‘No Children’ which is sung entirely by the audience or the 2007 Zoop shows, awesome not only for the performances but also for John’s easy banter between songs. In every live performance I’ve heard, I swear I can hear the love swelling in the room, and I’m going to experience for myself!
The Mountain Goats perform ‘Going to Georgia’ at Zoop. Feel the love, y’all! Also try to check out ‘The Sign (with hand gestures)’ on YouTube. It’s fabulous!
So, tomorrow night it happens. If you’re going, you’ll see me. I’ll be the one sobbing.
Yes, predictable title, I know
