Artist The Mountain Goats

Chrissy Piper
Chrissy Piper

Website
The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats is an omnibus name for the musical wanderings of John Darnielle, a wry troubadour whose songs scan as alternately depressing and hilarious short stories. In particular, Darnielle has a flair for the disenfranchised—the drifters, drunks, and failed metal gods—and he paints their pictures vividly, with plenty of pathos and an uncanny eye for lyrical detail. The Mountain Goats has become an actual band in recent years, with bassist Peter Hughes and Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster joining Darnielle on a series of increasingly lush albums. That Superchunk connection has paid off, with Merge Records releasing 2011’s All Eternals Deck, one of the smoothest, most delicate iterations of Darnielle’s thorny storytelling to date. In stark contrast, opener Nurses’ breezy, melodic sound is endearingly optimistic pop at its most unabashed.

Updated 01/11/2012