Dark In Here - The Mountain Goats: Review
The Mountain Goats
are a long running indie folk project spearheaded by indie folk personified, John Darnielle. The band has a prolific catalog of early lo-fi recordings from the 90's and early 2000's before their sound shifted to a more expensive production sound, relatively speaking. The band spent the first half of the 2010's releasing acclaimed conceptual indie folk projects before shifting to something a little bit easier to digest in recent years, without receiving the same level of critical success.
Review By Lav:
Following The Mountain Goats can be an exciting, occasionally exhaustive pursuit. The band is in the midst of a very prolific run over the last 3 years which has the potential to be quite exciting, but unfortunately the records have been tame and occasionally bloated since 2017's fun and conceptual Goths. I was excited for this project because a couple of the singles I heard peaked my interests more than projects in recent years and I think the record had the chance to live up to what I had hoped last years Getting Into Knives would be. While I don't see Dark in Here as an unequivocal success it is no doubt an improvement and my favorite of the bands records in recent years.
The second single from the record is what really got me excited for its prospects. The Slow Parts On Death Metal Albums features a steady instrumental through the verses that rises at the absolute perfect point in line with the songs climaxes. Every single refrain that comes out of John's mouth is catchy and sounds great, adding even more evidence to his credentials as both a songwriter and vocalist. The third single and title track also helped build up hype. Dark In Here is a genuinely badass track with an instrumental that feels like it could come from a western and lyrics about preparing for a battle in occasionally very serious detail. The driving instrumentation sets yup for a dramatic chorus and even though the verses and hook don't sound all the different from each other that actually helps the song feel like it has a very linear focus to it that I've grown to enjoy a lot.
The excellently titled The Destruction Of The Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower a reference I only understood from a random documentary I watched years ago, is a great start to the record. The really prominent bassline feels slightly unusual for the band but they pull it off well and it makes a lot of the background instrumentation feel like its adding meaningful layers. I love how the song just marches forward through its refrains and that the lyrics feel like a microcosm of John's career as a lyricist. Lizard Suit is a sort of tongue and cheek track whose lyrics, when interpolated literally, are about John wearing a lizard suit to a party because he is having difficulty getting noticed in his everyday life. While the song isn't literally about that and it sounds much more like a metaphor for social anxieties that often doesn't manifest in the tracks generally bouncy and buttery smooth instrumental. Of all the songs here it is one that I have thought about the most, and one of the easiest to get stuck in my head.
To The Headless Horseman is one of the better of the whisper quiet tracks here. I love the surreal fairy tale like lyricism but also the very intimate performances which feel like I'm eavesdropping on something I shouldn't even hear. That makes the songs pseudo hook on the song even better and more impactful, I can't get enough of it. Finally the closing track Let Me Bathe In Demonic light despite not having much to do with its title, is a great closer to the record. It delivers even further on its promise of great vocals and a compelling instrumental to make for a solid finale.
Mobile was the lead single from the record which still feels like a weird choice, the song is just alright. The lowkey performance and biblical themes in the lyricism are decently enjoyable but the instrumental almost sounds like easy listening music complete with a John Mayer type guitar solo that sounds so out of place on a Mountain Goats record. The best thing it has going for it is that lyrically it sets up thematic notes that are explored all over the record. Before I Got There is similarly compelling on the lyrical end and I've been thinking a lot about the story here and what it means, as well as what the narrator returning to and what exactly he finds. It's unfortunate that this song sonically feels like kind of boring runoff from Death Metal and the hook is really the only memorable part of the track from a compositional standpoint.
Arguing With The Ghost Of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review is one of the best song titles I think I've ever seen and as a huge Lou Reed fan its a deep cut reference that spoke to me personally. Unfortunately the kind of standard and boring folk instrumental doesn't do the title justice and that's just the start. I'm not sure if John's lyrics are so lauded in metaphor that I just can't make out exactly what he means, but I can't really see anything here lyrically that has anything to directly do with the tracks title which I have to admit is a major disappointment. The songs slow pacing as it crawls through its verses is the final nail in the coffin for me.
When A Powerful Animal Comes gets off to a quiet start despite the fact that there's a lot goin on. John's vocals are high up in the mix and feel very close but he is nearly whisper singing while an array of brass instrumentation noodles away in the background. The climex of the song isn't quite as dramatic or exciting as I hoped it would be and it's actually the instrumental breakdown that follows that I ended up preferring. I think my least favorite track on the record is the very brief The New Hydra Collection which does feature some crashing drums I love in the instrumental. But the rest of the track doesn't do much for me with its wandering keys and jammy groove. The hook is kind of okay but I'm not really that compelled by anything here and it's all over as soon as it starts.
There are some songs on Dark In Here that I absolutely love, tracks that remind me why The Mountain Goats have so many classic records in their elaborate and versatile discography. That was quite the exciting prospect for me but unfortunately the record is met with some of the same mediocrity that has plagued this era of the bands career. While it is no doubt a step in the right direction with higher highs and higher lows, there is certainly room for improvement. I have no doubt that The Mountain Goats will be back soon with some kind of new creative pursuit and you can bet I'll be there to listen to it. Hopefully they build on the momentum of this solid record, because all the evidence of the bands grandeur is here. 6/10
My first through when seeing this cover was that it was super dull because of the darkness. But after reading the text I fully understand the concept. I like the little pops of orange scattered throughout and wish that they could have been even more vibrant. This is only because the cover lacks a sense of subject. The text is unimposing and works well to jump out from the dark background. It gets the job done even if its not my personal taste. 6.5/10
For more indie check out my review of The Antlers Green To Gold here
