Poetry For The People
We may be only a short way into 2008, but Mountain Goats have already set a heady precedent with captivating new album, 'Heretic Pride' which tells glorious tales of love, fear and everything in between with a broad spectrum of references.
It's impossible not to be swept up in John Darnielle's simple but effusive lyrics, "Dead languages on our lips", he sighs in the delicate, 'San Bernardino', but every word is filled with unabounding resonance and life. 'Autoclave' is no less than pure genius with tender lines like, "My heart's an autoclave" and "I dreamt that I was perched atop of a throne of human skulls on a cliff above the oceans, howling wind and shrieking seagulls" melting any resistance the listener could have to the band. Every single track has an least one blinding line of poetic delight that you would just love to capture the essence of and frame on your wall. The brooding, 'In The Craters Of The Moon' manages to have more than its fair share, as well as a frenetic and foreboding rhythm that whisks up plenty of passion in its 3 minute duration. If you're looking for edgy excitement, then 'Lovecraft in Brooklyn' will be the epitome of this album with a rough rage inside marked by splintered riffs and impromptu screeches, "Somedays something's coming from way out beyond the stars to kill us while we stand here", Darnielle splutters, filled with sci-fi paranoia.
'Sax Rohmer #1' is an impassioned opener with the caustic refrain, "I am coming home to you with my own blood in my hands" and a fierce backing of chugging, melodic guitar riffs. The album continues to flutter between sweet and moving tunes, and driving epics that make your heart swell with every wistful word; 'Heretic Pride' falls into the latter category with an uplifting melody matching Darnielle's unbridled positivity. The shuddering tension of, 'Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident' makes it another stand out track merging subtle shivering strings with aching vocal harmonies and throbbing guitar.
An awesome album with a rich range that provides enough to keep you more than engaged for 45 minutes, 'Heretic Pride' an inescapable success filled with warm and intimate vignettes with realism and honesty that makes you shudder. There's unusual beauty in every soaring moment that will continue to spark off self-reflection in the listener for the entire day.