The categories of "bands that are still performing" and "bands I haven't yet seen but want to" have very little overlap. I'm happy to say, that little sliver is about to get even smaller, after I see the Mountain Goats this spring. This band is like a personal anthem machine: everyone I know who has heard them has (at least) one song that speaks to them so personally, they'd swear they could have written it themselves...if they were as talented. For me, there's one standout that was on a loop in my head through a very tough transition a decade ago; a song I could never have predicted I'd even like, it's so different from what I usually listen to; a song that will still make me misty in a way that's difficult to explain to anyone who "wasn't there."
Friday, Apr 17, 2015
Let's start with this. The Mountain Goats are releasing a new album. The name of this album is Beat the Champ. It is, as any fan of the band will expect, a heartbreaking and heartreviving album about imperfect people described perfectly, with melodies that will stay with you for days. There are also things about it that even longtime fans will not expect. That's all true.
The Mountain Goats, if you are not a longtime fan, is an itinerant, pseudomystical motorcycle cult that raises money through a regional chain of discount furniture outlets and the occasional musical release in order to fund their mysterious rituals and sacrifices enacted upon the highways and backroads of America.
That's true as well.
