HURLEY, N.Y. — In the latest of a long string of niche concept albums exploring various cultural microcosms, The Mountain Goats have released a new album inspired by the albums of the renowned indie rock band The Mountain Goats.
“I was reading at this cool coffee shop, and they were playing all these Mountain Goats records, and I just thought, ‘Hey, these are fun, I should write an album about these!’” recalled Mountain Goats founder and singer John Darnielle. “Some might view it as narcissistic or self-indulgent, but honestly, I’ve written so many damn songs at this point that half of them feel like someone else wrote them anyway, so I felt like I could write about the source material with full objectivity.”
The album, simply titled “Mountain Goats” and featuring songs like “God Damn God Damn These Vampires,” “The Best Ever Song About The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton,” and “John Darnielle Screams ‘I Hope You Die,’” is already being hailed by fans as some of the band’s best work in years.
“I just love Darnielle’s ability to mine lyrical gold out of all these cool little subcultures,” commented longtime Mountain Goats fan Cindy Portello. “If you asked me to write a song about an album about wrestlers, I wouldn’t know what to do, but the one he wrote on this album reads like a goddamn novel! And it’s catchy!”
The album has also drawn glowing praise from a number of prominent music critics.
“With this album, The Mountain Goats have managed to capture the entire scope of the albums of The Mountain Goats,” wrote music critic Harold Luvtree. “From the bombastic ‘John Darnielle is Writing About Charlie Sheen Today’ to the somber and meditative ‘Wurster Plays the Drums,’ the full spectrum of the listening to The Mountain Goats experience is present, joyous, and alive on this record.”
A limited edition promotional bumper sticker reading “I Only Listen to The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats” can currently be found on the band’s merch store.
