The Mountain Goats x The Bible

There’s an endless sense of paranoia and disaffection in any and all musics recorded by some recluse, an instrument and a boom box. John Darnielle might not be a shut in, but some of his recordings make it seem that way. Oddly bucolic for a guy who grew up in one of the most populace states in the country, his work solo and alongside a rhythm section in the Mountain Goats finds Darnielle examining personalities – of people and animals – how folks interact and giving listeners a story to hang it all on. It’s not the most hook heavy stuff to be recorded in the last twenty years, but the Mountain Goats’ ability to remain below the radar (for the most part) while still maintaining a surprisingly large and voraciously appreciative audience is a testament to not the just the writing abilities of Darnielle but his band’s acumen to properly compliment the man’s work.

Embraced by grown up punkers as well as sad sack indy kids across the country, the Mountain Goats have sated those disparate crowds by releasing the equivalent of a disc per year since the mid ‘90s. Of course, if half of those albums were met with sub par perceptions, this wouldn’t come off as well. But the general view of Darnielle is that he’s some sort of poetic genius lending narrative arcs to characters either during one song or over the course of an entire record. So, even if this kinda basic guitar/bass/drums music isn’t to one’s liking, the man deserves his due deference for being a craftsman with a pen and pad.

The newest release from Darnielle and company comes in the form of The Life of the World to Come to be released by 4AD at the beginning of October. Musically, the disc doesn’t present any sort of drastic departure from previous efforts. Although, as the band has aged, the recording fidelity has seen a drastic uptick in addition to a more fully realized use of the piano as not just a supplemental instrument, but on that has a real impact on the form of a track – “Philippians 3:20-21” being one of the better examples from the new disc.

With that title getting tossed out there, it’s pretty easy to note that each of the 12 tracks reference both the new and old Testaments of the bible. No, The Life of the World to Come isn’t a litany of born again religious nonsense, Darnielle figures, “It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of.”

It’s that tag line of “kind of” that makes the Mountain Goats and Darnielle as interesting as they are. There’s no devout posturing here. It’s just more storytelling. And if there’s something missing in the current landscape of pop music, it’s a song writer’s ability to properly relate a scenario and then explain to listeners why it mattered and why they should listen again. The Life of the World to Come won’t blow your mind, or drastically change your world view, but it could provide some heavy realizations afforded by Darnielle’s life experiences.