[rayword45]

Day 439: Goths by The Mountain Goats (Album Choice: college peoples)

Y'all already know how much I love this band. This is supposedly the "no guitars" album which is worrisome, but hey I've been wrong most of my life. I've also heard a bunch of these songs live already, some of them twice, yet I promise you I won't remember shit.

Well, actually I vaguely remember this opening song being played live, albeit much sparer in arrangement. This one rocks pretty hard, but after that it seems to mostly be soft chamber pop. In fact, it feels like Darnielle spent way more time on figuring out how to make the orchestration sound like an indie 90s release than writing lyrics. I know that last sentence is objectively false, but the lyrics here pale in comparison to my favorite albums of his, and that's all I'm looking for! Maybe it's because I'm not a goth, but goddamnit I'm severely depressed and that ought to count for something.

Anyways, there's a mix of great songs and boring-to-cheesy song (what the fuck is Wear Black?) but none of it has the energy or strike of his earlier albums besides the first track. It's mostly just pretty yet inconsequential quiet stuff.

A perfectly middling album. Also, is it me or does Rage In Travers sound like a certain Tame Impala song?

Best Track: Rain In Soho
Rating: 6/10