I haven’t kept up with the Mountain Goats discography in recent years, but I am just now listening to 2021′s Dark in Here and man is it good! Thematically and lyrically, this one fits perfectly in with The Life of the World to Come. It is a biblical story (Jonah) being told with a touch of artistic license, applied to a contemporary story, in this case the narrator watching an incoming hurricane (at least that’s how this pseudo-Floridian is reading it, after having experienced his second hurricane in a six-week span). The final call -- “Why do you hold back your fury? Don’t hold back your fury” -- links the two beautifully if ambiguously (in classic Darnielle fashion).
Musically, it fits in the Mountain Goats corpus so well that it takes a moment to realize that the (fantastic) electric guitar riff is (so far as I know) totally unprecedented.
The first five tracks of the album are all absolutely fantastic. The short opening track has that same familiar-but-with-a-twist feel. The title track is a fantastic example of Darnielle’s ability to convey controlled and sinister fury -- think “Lion’s Teeth” or “Lovecraft in Brooklyn” or “Psalm 40:2.” The fifth track, “Lizard Suit,” has a superb and also unprecedented piano-and-drums jazz outro.
The second half of the album is very good too.
germansingergirl
snowghoul
tangentwithtanner
baratheonpilled
discoholicmusic
prguitarman