Goths

Goths is full of surprises, places where the music shifts direction in a way that changes a song’s emotional trajectory in a stunning way.

This album is a love letter, written in elegant cursive (and blood, obvs), for anyone and everyone that holds the underground to their heart.

The LP is both amusing and poignant, full of strange imagery and punch lines that are characteristic of Mountain Goats.

Darnielle’s lyrics never let nostalgia float off in the ether. There’s a geography to Goths that adds complexity and specificity.

While these 12 songs carry a lick of humour, there is a sublime tenderness here too. [Aug 2017, p.107]

His voice remains distinctive though, and like all his records, Goths is worth hearing.

Goths is Darnielle’s most evocative work since the occultist All Eternals Deck and even though it remains loosely conceptual like Beat the Champ, it’s all tethered to this palpable, too-casual melancholy, the kind that comes with telling a cautionary tale one too many times.

Here, the 50-year-old sometime novelist is in masterly form, reappraising his teenage goth years.

After over 20 years of writing fine songs and making great records, John Darnielle and the Mountain Goats are actually getting better and more interesting, and Goths is a genuine triumph.

Darnielle deftly weaves through memories of an impressionable period in his life and its accompanying soundtrack while avoiding the pitfall of nostalgia or sentimentalism for the music of his youth.

Songwriter Darnielle expertly renders the acute emotions of adopting a new tribe and the resignation that life often forces. [Jun 2017, p.89]

Spry, antic and engaging. [Jun 2017, p.34]

Goths is vivid and light on its toes. [Apr - Jun 2017, p.84]

As part of the band’s rich story, It’s still a journey worth taking, both for the band and listeners. But the latter will find themselves staring out the window, brooding over the gray and dismal scenery a bit more.

From a conceptual standpoint, Darnielle has achieved an exclusive analysis of the brooding would-be darkwaver, though the brilliance of the inside jokes could fall on deaf, pale ears here.

While edgy, honest and witty observations are made about youth culture, there is a tendency to sprinkle moments of easy listening jazz throughout the record, which is a bit of a downer in a non gothic sense. Still, the brutal honesty and candor are present and much appreciated, one of the few characteristics that truly identifies a Mountain Goats record.

If you're encountering The Mountain Goats for the first time, perhaps this isn't the ideal place to begin.

Goths is one of Darnielle and co.'s most daring and well-conceived feats. [Jun 2017, p.82]