The Mountain Goats, Getting Into Knives, 2020 on Merge

Nineteenth studio LP from John Darnielle and crew, recorded at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, and produced by Matt Ross-Spang. Similar crew to Dark in Here which was recorded shortly after this LP.

Love the liner notes credits for Ross-Spang: “the man himself, the dude with the heater in the basement, the fellow you know from the back room, the man who will not personally sell you any knives but can direct you to a guy who has at least three, two of them quite exotic.”

My copy—via Electric Fetus in Minneapolis MN—is the “gold metallic” 2xLP limited edition pressing.

The Mountain Goats, Dark in Here, 2021 on Merge

Twentieth studio LP from The Mountain Goats, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals and produced by Matt Ross-Spang. THe Mountain Goats this time include John Darnielle with Peter Hughes, Jon Wurster, and Matt Douglas, supported by Spooner Oldham, Will McFarlane, Susan Marshall, and Reba Russell.

Darnielle is such an amazing and interesting songwriter. The subtitle of the album is “12 songs for singing in caves, bunkers, foxholes, and secret spaces beneath the floorboards.” Who else (Flaming Lips?) would have a song titled “Aruging with the Ghost of Pater Laughner about his Coney Island Baby Review”?

My copy—via Electric Fetus in Minneapolis MN—is the blue vinyl limited edition with an etching on side 4.

FUCK the new Mountain Goats album is hitting me hard.
It's been 11 years since All Hail West Texas and Jenny from Thebes really feels like the culmination of a decade of hardship, anxiety, and love.
From a technical standpoint I don't think it will be my favorite MG album (that's gonna be Bleed Out), but emotionally it's one of the most important albums to me, up there with Good Luck Everybody and The Wall.

https://themountaingoats.bandcamp.com/album/jenny-from-thebes

[Hashtag soup ahead:]
#MountainGoats #JennyFromThebes #AllHailWestTexas #BleedOut #FolkPunk #FolkRock #AltRock #RockOpera #JohnDarnielle #TinaShoemaker #AliciaBognanno #PeterHughes #MattDouglas #JonWurster #MattNathanson #KathrynValentine