The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride Review

I feel pretty much the same way about John Darnielle that I feel about Woody Allen — that is, I enjoy just about anything either of them do (except Cassandra’s Dream). You may call some of their work indulgent, and I will generally be able to see what you’re saying and watch or listen happily regardless. But when either of these two luminaries really succeeds, it’s like Christmas and my birthday and an unlimited supply of Pop Rocks and winning a Pulitzer rolled into one....full text On 2006's Get Lonely, John Darnielle scrutinised the emotions and sensations of breaking up in such minute detail and with such unfailing accuracy, that anyone who has ever been dumped must think that Darnielle was living inside their head at the time noting their every feeling.

The eclecticism of Heretic Pride, a collection of songs about racist pulp authors of the early 1900s, cults, Prince Far I, and lake monsters, is far removed from its predecessor's single-mindedness but Darnielle's lyrical flair brings these thirteen, bizarre, funny, and moving stories to life with the same vital colour....full text In 1993, Sassy ran a review of Pearl Jam's "Vs." that basically said: People complain that all the band's songs sound the same, but that's not a negative; that's why it's called a style. Fifteen years later, the same argument can be applied to the Mountain Goats. Pretty much all John Darnielle's songs sound the same, but that sameness affords a remarkable consistency. "Heretic Pride" finds him revisiting fractured childhoods, broken relationships and metal clichés. He name-drops famous sci-fi authors on "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" and shouts out to a Swedish death metal outfit on "Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident....full text