Just wow. Incredibly, indubitably wow. Mountain Goats live is something else.
I caught the first of two nights of John Darnielle - aka Mountain Goats - at the Bowery last weekend and was simply blown away by the subtle strength of his music. I have been listening to the new MG album Get Lonely like it was my day job since it was released not too long ago. It is an album in stark contrast to 2005's effort ,the Sunset Tree. ST was an album of upbeat pop melodies laced over dark, traumatic lyrics recounting Darnielle's difficult childhood. GL is colder, softer, hushed....to me it just sounds like a perfectly cold early winter day. This feeling came through with the first song of the evening, "Wild Sage", when you could distinguish every single whispered word Darnielle sang.
Thank goodness the crowd was so respectful to the performer - you literally could hear a pin drop - I wanted to catch every single lyric, word and breath out of Darnielle. Many of the songs in the set came from the new album - "Maybe Sprout Wings", "Song For Lonely Giants", "Get Lonely", "New Monster Avenue" - as well as some oldie-but-goodies like "Up The Wolves", an "Old Broom" > "Dance Music" combo, and "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" (download here).
Pull your coat-collar up and peep the title track from Get Lonely:
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