Album review: The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World To Come
October 28th, 2009
The Mountain Goats The Life of the World To Come [4AD]
John Darnielle, lead singer/lyricist and occasional sole member of the Mountain Goats, is no stranger to getting a little personal on his albums.
On 2004’s We Shall All Be Healed, he tells stories, partially true and partially fiction, about methamphetamine addicts he knew growing up as a teenager in California and Oregon. Not to mention, as the band’s website states, “most of them are probably dead or in jail by now.”
The Sunset Tree, released in 2005, was largely autobiographical, dealing with Darnielle’s torrential childhood with an abusive stepfather. The album was critically acclaimed and many consider it some of the Goats’ best work.
On the band’s newest album, The Life of the World to Come, the Goats’ songwriter has turned to the Bible for inspiration. The result is a beautiful and organic sounding LP featuring 12 songs, all named after verses from the holy book in question.
Overall, LOTWTC is not some overly preachy piece of contemporary Christian music or some sonically self-righteous, holier-than-thou, Book of Books-thumping extravaganza. When he first announced the details of the new record on his website, John Darnielle said it himself that this album is not a screed. Rather, it’s “twelve hard lessons the Bible taught [him], kind of.”
Yes, the song titles may resemble something closer to a Sunday school reading list than an indie rock album track listing. Don’t let this fool you. In reality, this record treats us to a dozen scenes of life, death, happiness, doubt, and despair, all narrated by the staggeringly eloquent Darnielle.
All in all, the sound and intensity of this album is much less direct than much of the Mountain Goats’ past records. The subtle bass lines of Peter Hughes and pleasant beats of drummer Jon Wurster nicely underscore Darnielle’s vocal, guitar, and piano work. Besides the fiery “Psalms 40:2” and the rhythmic “Genesis 3:23,” this disc is soft and mellow in every musical sense, yet just as lyrically profound and prolific as any Darnielle-penned album that came before it.
Now let’s make something completely crystal clear: John Darnielle is arguably one of the best songwriters working today. Period. Despite this though, he has gone relatively uncelebrated in any mainstream sense. That is, there hasn’t been as much hoopla for the Mountain Goats as there has been hip-hip-hooraying for the more commercial indie darlings of the world - your Arcade Fires, your Death Cab for Cuties, your Vampire Weekends. Regardless, I maintain that Darnielle has the ability to singlehandedly thrash all these bands to a lyrical pulp.
For years, the Mountain Goats’ catalogue consisted primarily of songs featuring a lone Darnielle playing his acoustic guitar and singing into a recording boom box. Much of the band’s early work throughout the ’90s was distributed on good old-fashioned cassette tapes. Until the Goats were signed to an established indie label like 4AD and further developed their sound, the lo-fi essence of the music more or less became the band’s signature.
As tedious as some of these earlier recordings may seem, it has always been the lyrics that has propelled John Darnielle far and above other singer-songwriters. His music is rich with literary and historical references. On top of that, he sings with such a conviction and urgency that he breathes life into the striking characters and dire circumstances depicted in his songs, and in turn, the listener is brought along for the ride. Darnielle can and invariably will take you to the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
He is also credited with writing one of the most incredibly authentic lines ever put to music, at least in my mind. It’s found in the everlasting fan favourite “Going to Georgia”: “The most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you / and that you’re standing in the doorway.” Now it may not come across as the most traditionally awesome lyric - I mean, you either get it or you don’t. But if you do… Hot damn.
Rating: A-
- Dan Lytwyn
Tags: John Darnielle, Mountain Goats, The Life Of The World To Come
Posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 10:17 am by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
