The Mountain Goats--Get Lonely

So you’d probably think such a popular moniker as The Mountain Goats would be taken by some long-forgotten band in the long halls of musical history. Well, then you’d be quite wrong. Instead the name belongs to a certain lo-fi band that stretches the genre (and word) indie to its furthest limit. Truly DIY, the majority of The Goats songs are recorded on a cheap boom-box, and its quite possible that the little band of shifting characters could have over 100 songs to their name, floating about the mountains. With over a dozen albums, two dozen compilations, and more than a few handfuls of extra projects, cassettes, and 7 inches, its highly possible to say the least. Their newest album, Get Lonely, continues in the proud Goat fashion of subtle beauty and less-than-pristine recording techniques, yet in a way that could lead you to believe that John Darnielle is in your corner crooning out song after song. Unfortunately you’d be wrong about this too, but fortunately the album is a good one.

The most noticeable feature on the album besides the less-then-ample recording technique (otherwise known as crappy) is the acoustically dominated instrumentals. The acoustic guitar is almost exclusively used, with a few drum beats, bass riffs, and even a tiny taste of stringed instrumentals here and there. This gives the album a laid-back, emotional, and lonely feel, putting more pressure on the lyrics to deliver, which they do, but only barely. The lyrics take some getting used to, as Darnielle’s run-on-sentence style of singing does get tedious. They’re mostly about everyday life, simple little rhymes and stories that cater more to an adult getting used to the fact that they’ve fallen into a rut. They range from simple ("Went down to the gas station / For no particular reason / Heard the screams from the high school / It’s football season"), to quite beautiful ("Ghosts and clouds / And Nameless things / Squint your eyes and hope real hard / Maybe sprout wings"), to downright tedious ("And I lose my footing / And I skin my hands breaking my fall / And I laugh to myself / And look up to the skies / And then I think I hear angels in my ears.") Where the lyrics fail the guitar picks up the pace, and in turn the guitar becomes secondary when the lyrics get juicy.

While it may not make your all-star list, Get Lonely and The Mountain Goats may just crawl inside and get you hooked with it’s quiet beauty. If you need a break from over-bearing punk riffs, watered down emotional lyrics, and nonstop dance noise, check out Darnielle, his guitar, and his simple daily themes. You won’t be wrong.