American band
The Mountain Goats
|
---|
![The Mountain Goats in 2014](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/The_Mountain_Goats5.jpg/282px-The_Mountain_Goats5.jpg) The Mountain Goats in 2014
|
|
Origin
| Claremont, California
, United States
|
---|
Genres
| |
---|
Years active
| 1991?present
|
---|
Labels
| |
---|
|
Members
|
|
---|
The Mountain Goats
are an American band formed in
Claremont, California
, by singer-songwriter
John Darnielle
. The band is currently based in
Durham, North Carolina
. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the plural moniker. Although he remains the core member of the band, he has worked with a variety of collaborators over time, including bassist and vocalist
Peter Hughes
, drummer
Jon Wurster
, multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, singer-songwriter
Franklin Bruno
, bassist and vocalist Rachel Ware, singer-songwriter/
producer
John Vanderslice
, guitarist
Kaki King
, and multi-instrumentalist
Annie Clark
.
[2]
Throughout the 1990s, the Mountain Goats were known for producing
low-fidelity
home recordings
(most notably, on a
cassette deck
boombox
) and releasing recordings in
cassette
or
vinyl 7-inch
formats.
[3]
Since 2002, the Mountain Goats have adopted a more polished approach, often recording studio albums with a full band.
[3]
[4]
History
Early years
The band's name is a reference to the
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
song "Yellow Coat".
[3]
Darnielle released his first recording as the Mountain Goats (
Taboo VI: The Homecoming
, on
Shrimper Records
) in 1991.
[3]
Many of his first recordings and performances featured Darnielle accompanied by members of the all-girl reggae band the Casual Girls, who became known as the Bright Mountain Choir. One of this group's members, Rachel Ware, continued to accompany Darnielle on bass, both live and in studio, until 1995.
[5]
The first five years of the Mountain Goats' career saw a prolific output of songs on cassette, vinyl and CD. These releases spanned multiple labels and countries of origin, often released in limited numbers. The focus of the Mountain Goats project was the urgency of writing.
[6]
Songs not recorded adequately to tape within days of being written were often forgotten.
[
citation needed
]
Cassette releases during this time include
The Hound Chronicles
,
Transmissions to Horace
,
Hot Garden Stomp
,
Taking the Dative
, and
Yam, the King of Crops
.
In 1994, the Mountain Goats released their first full-length
studio album
,
Zopilote Machine
, on
Ajax Records
. It is the band's only full album featuring the entirety of the Bright Mountain Choir.
1995?2000:
Sweden
,
Nothing for Juice
,
Full Force Galesburg
, and
The Coroner's Gambit
Peter Hughes
in 2007
By 1995, most of what could be considered classic Mountain Goats conventions (boom-box recording, song series, Latin quotes, and mythological themes) were abandoned in favor of a more thematically focused and experimental sound.
[
citation needed
]
This period was marked by Darnielle's collaborations with other artists including
Alastair Galbraith
and
Simon Joyner
. In November 1996, Darnielle announced a vow to "clear his musical tendency for profanity" to promote a more optimistic reception to the ideas outlined in his material.
[
citation needed
]
In 1995, the album
Sweden
was released. Soon after its recording, a sequel titled
Hail and Farewell, Gothenburg
was recorded, but never released. It remained unheard by the general public until 2007, when it was leaked against Darnielle's wishes. In 1996, the Mountain Goats released the album
Nothing for Juice
, and
Full Force Galesburg
the following year. Rachel Ware left the band between recording the two albums, and bassist
Peter Hughes
took over her position.
Between 1998 and 2000, the Mountain Goats slowed down their prolific output, releasing
The Coroner's Gambit
in October 2000. The album partially returned to the band's roots, as most songs were sporadically recorded on Darnielle's old
Panasonic
RX-FT500
cassette deck
Boombox
, which produced a loud background noise to the songs.
2001?2003:
All Hail West Texas
and
Tallahassee
2002 saw the release of two Mountain Goats albums:
All Hail West Texas
and
Tallahassee
. These albums mark a distinct change in focus for the Mountain Goats project, being the first in a series of concept albums that explore aspects of The Mountain Goats' canon in depth.
All Hail West Texas
featured the resurrection of Darnielle's early boom box recording for a complete album. Darnielle considers this album to be the culmination of his lo-fi recording style.
Tallahassee
, the first Mountain Goats album to be recorded with a full band and in a studio,
[7]
explores and concludes the relationship of a couple whose lives were the subject of the song cycle known as the Alpha Series.
[8]
It was the first album to be released on a major label, marking the start of the
4AD
years of the band.
Also released that year was
Martial Arts Weekend
, attributed to
The Extra Glenns
, a collaboration with
Franklin Bruno
on several previously unreleased Mountain Goats songs.
[5]
Following that recording, Bruno joined Darnielle in the studio along with bassist
Peter Hughes
, who is the second official member of the band and accompanies Darnielle on tour. These three musicians formed what was considered the Mountain Goats studio band.
2004?2009: 4AD years
Record producer
John Vanderslice
in 2006
In 2004, the Mountain Goats released
We Shall All Be Healed
. The album marked a number of changes for the Mountain Goats, as it was the first time Darnielle worked with producer
John Vanderslice
, and the first album of directly autobiographical material.
We Shall All Be Healed
chronicles Darnielle's life with a group of friends and acquaintances addicted to
methamphetamine
in
Portland, Oregon
,
[9]
though the album is set in
Pomona, California
.
[
citation needed
]
The following year, the band's second Vanderslice-produced album,
The Sunset Tree
, was released. Again autobiographical, Darnielle tackled the subject of his early childhood spent with an abusive stepfather.
[10]
[11]
Darnielle had previously dealt with this subject in what he often refers to as the only "extensively autobiographical" song he had written before 2004, the 1999 unreleased song "You're in Maya".
[12]
The Mountain Goats relocated to
Durham, North Carolina
in 2006, and issued
Get Lonely
, which was produced by
Scott Solter
, who had worked with Vanderslice on engineering for prior Mountain Goats records.
Jon Wurster
joined the group in 2007, playing drums on the last leg of the
Get Lonely
tour. The band recorded tracks for its next album at Prairie Sun studios.
[13]
Entitled
Heretic Pride
, the album was released on 19 February 2008.
[14]
Produced by John Vanderslice and Scott Solter, the album saw Darnielle, Hughes, and Wurster joined by Franklin Bruno, Erik Friedlander,
Annie Clark
(better known by her stage name, St. Vincent), and members of The Bright Mountain Choir.
[14]
American
alternative hip hop
artist
Aesop Rock
released a remix of the track "
Lovecraft in Brooklyn
" from the album, and in return Darnielle contributed vocals to his album
None Shall Pass
, in the song "Coffee".
In 2009, Darnielle and Vanderslice collaborated on the record
Moon Colony Bloodbath
. Released in a limited vinyl run of 1000 and sold during their "Gone Primitive" tour, the EP was a concept record about
organ harvesting
colonies on the
Moon
. This was followed by the next full Mountain Goats album,
The Life of the World to Come
, which released in October of the same year.
[15]
The album is composed of twelve tracks, each one inspired by (and titled after) a single verse of the Christian
Bible
. In publicizing the record, the band made their first ever television appearance, performing "Psalms 40:2" on
The Colbert Report
, hosted by professed Mountain Goats fan
Stephen Colbert
.
[16]
2010?present: Merge Records years
John Darnielle playing a solo show under the name The Mountain Goats at Harvest of Hope Festival in
St. Augustine, FL
in 2010
The Mountain Goats signed to
Merge Records
, home to drummer Jon Wurster's other band,
Superchunk
, in 2010.
[17]
[18]
The label issued a new record by
The Extra Lens
, formerly The Extra Glenns, entitled
Undercard
, followed by another Mountain Goats LP,
All Eternals Deck
, in 2011.
[18]
[19]
They were also chosen by
Jeff Mangum
of
Neutral Milk Hotel
to perform at the
All Tomorrow's Parties
festival that he was due to curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England, but were unable to appear due to a rescheduling.
[20]
The band's fourteenth studio album,
Transcendental Youth
, was released in late 2012,
[21]
and in early 2013 they played at Carnegie Hall in support of
John Green
and
Hank Green
in their "Evening of Awesome" performance.
[22]
[23]
In July 2013,
All Hail West Texas
was re-released on vinyl. During an interview with
Stereogum
in August 2012, John Darnielle said that
Amy Grant
was his favorite pop artist, and noted that "
Rich Mullins
is one of the best songwriters I know of."
[24]
Mullins was the songwriter who penned many of Grant's hits.
The Mountain Goats released their 15th album,
Beat the Champ
, on 7 April 2015, again with
Merge Records
.
[25]
According to
Pitchfork Media
, the album concentrates on the
professional wrestlers
Darnielle admired when he was a child and tries to develop and imagine their lives.
[26]
Multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas assisted the group in recording the album, and soon thereafter became a full-time member.
[27]
In January 2017, the Mountain Goats recorded a humorous song per request of director
Rian Johnson
, depicting an alternate story of his upcoming movie,
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
. The song, titled "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones", was published on Johnson's
SoundCloud
page.
[28]
In May 2017, they released their sixteenth studio album,
Goths
.
[29]
The band has stated that
Goths
was inspired by an adolescence listening to
The Cure
,
Bauhaus
,
Siouxsie and the Banshees
, and
Joy Division
, as well as hearing songs on the Californian radio station
KROQ-FM
.
[30]
In January 2019, the band announced the April 26 release of their
Dungeons & Dragons
inspired album,
In League with Dragons
(and released initial single, "Younger"), via Merge Records. The announcement was accompanied by a live music stream from the
Wizards of the Coast
headquarters.
[31]
In March 2020, while the
COVID-19 pandemic
left the band unable to tour, Darnielle retrieved his old Panasonic RX-FT500 tape deck and recorded 10 new songs, using the direct-to-boombox method for the first time since 2002's
All Hail West Texas
. The resulting album, entitled
Songs for Pierre Chuvin
, was inspired by Darnielle's reading of
Pierre Chuvin
's 1990 book
A Chronicle of the Last Pagans
, and was released digitally on April 10, 2020, with a limited physical release on cassette through Merge Records.
[32]
[33]
The Mountain Goats announced in August 2020 that the band's nineteenth studio album,
Getting Into Knives
, would be released on October 23, 2020, on CD, vinyl, cassette, and digital.
[34]
In April 2021, the Mountain Goats announced their album
Dark in Here
, released on June 25, alongside the release of its first single "Mobile". The album was recorded at
FAME Studios
.
[35]
The band's 21st album,
Bleed Out
, was released on August
19, 2022.
[36]
In July 2023, the band announced their 22nd album
Jenny from Thebes
, a "rock opera about a woman named Jenny",
[37]
would be released on October
27, 2023. The character "Jenny" has appeared in several previous songs by the band, notably in several from
All Hail West Texas
.
Members
Former members and collaborators
Discography
Studio albums
In other media
In the
Showtime
television series
Weeds
,
the band performed the Theme to Weeds (Malvina Reynolds’ "
Little Boxes
") during the opening credits of Season 8, Episode 5.
[39]
The
Adult Swim
show
Moral Orel
featured "Love, Love, Love", "Old College Try", and "
No Children
" on several episodes of Season 3.
[40]
The band made their television debut on October 6, 2009, playing "Psalms 40:2" on
The Colbert Report
. On January 19, 2010, they played "Genesis 3:23" on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
.
[41]
On February 23, 2011, they played "Birth of Serpents" in support of their album,
All Eternals Deck
, on the
Late Show with David Letterman
. On April 6, 2015, the band performed "Foreign Object" on
Late Night with Seth Meyers
while promoting
Beat the Champ
.
[42]
In July 2019, the band performed on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
, with
Stephen Colbert
joining in to sing "This Year".
[43]
References
- ^
Hodgkinson, Will.
"Pop: The Mountain Goats:
Goths
"
.
The Times
.
Archived
from the original on 19 May 2017
. Retrieved
11 July
2017
.
- ^
"The Mountain Goats Bio"
.
Mountain-goats.com
. Archived from
the original
on July 7, 2013
. Retrieved
June 7,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Nickey, Jason (2008).
"The Mountain Goats: Biography"
.
Allmusic
.
Macrovision Corporation
. Retrieved
February 16,
2009
.
- ^
"The Mountain Goats"
. 4AD
. Retrieved
December 26,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
"the Mountain Goats FAQ"
.
Themountaingoats.net
. Retrieved
February 16,
2009
.
- ^
Brown, "Sermon on the Mount", June 1999.
- ^
"Tallahassee"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
2022-03-15
.
- ^
johndarnielle (0238).
"William Caxton Fan Club"
.
William Caxton Fan Club
. Retrieved
2022-03-15
.
- ^
"Episode 366 - John Darnielle"
.
WTF with Marc Maron Podcast
. 4 March 2013
. Retrieved
2022-03-15
.
- ^
Monger, James Christopher.
"The Sunset Tree ? The Mountain Goats review"
.
AllMusic.com
.
- ^
Stosuy, Brandon.
"The Sunset Tree album review Pitchfork"
.
pitchfork.com
.
- ^
Mountain Goats (1999-10-09),
Mountain Goats Live at Crossing Borders on 1999-10-09
, retrieved
2022-03-15
- ^
[1]
[
dead link
]
- ^
a
b
"News Archive | High Heresy"
. The Mountain Goats. November 20, 2007. Archived from
the original
on 2012-03-06
. Retrieved
December 26,
2011
.
- ^
"John Darnielle Tells the Story Behind the Mountain Goats' Biblical New LP"
.
Pitchfork Media
. September 8, 2009
. Retrieved
October 7,
2009
.
- ^
"Watch the Mountain Goats on "Colbert"
"
.
Pitchfork Media
. October 7, 2009
. Retrieved
December 8,
2017
.
- ^
Tom Breihan (2010-08-05).
"John Darnielle's Mountain Goats and Extra Lens Sign to Merge Records"
.
Pitchfork.com
. Retrieved
2017-07-24
.
- ^
a
b
"All Lanes Merge Immediately"
.
Mountain-goats.com
. August 5, 2010. Archived from
the original
on 2012-03-06
. Retrieved
December 26,
2011
.
- ^
"Mountain Goats All Eternals Deck Details"
. Stereogum. December 9, 2010
. Retrieved
December 26,
2011
.
- ^
"ATP curated by Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)"
. All Tomorrow's Parties
. Retrieved
December 26,
2011
.
- ^
"Just Under 1,000 Words About Our New Album"
.
Mountain-goats.com
. July 9, 2012. Archived from
the original
on July 12, 2012
. Retrieved
July 9,
2012
.
- ^
"John and Hank Green and Falling in Love With the World ? The Atlantic"
.
Theatlanticwire.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-11-01
. Retrieved
2017-07-24
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-09-24
. Retrieved
2013-05-12
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
Locker, Melissa (August 24, 2012).
"Turntable Interview: The Mountain Goats"
.
Stereogum
. Retrieved
25 May
2016
.
- ^
"The Mountain Goats ? Beat the Champ"
. Merge Records
. Retrieved
14 April
2015
.
- ^
Gordon, Jeremy (6 April 2015).
"Album Review: Beat the Champ"
. Pitchfork
. Retrieved
14 April
2015
.
- ^
Darnielle, John (20 August 2016).
"John Darnielle's Twitter"
.
Twitter
. Retrieved
20 November
2016
.
- ^
Kaye, Ben (30 January 2017).
"John Darnielle's song "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones" is about Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi ? listen"
.
Consequence of Sound
.
- ^
Arcand, Rob (22 February 2017).
"New Music: The Mountain Goats Announce New Album Goths, Share "Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds"
"
.
Spin
. Retrieved
23 February
2017
.
- ^
Lindsey, Cam (18 May 2017).
"John Darnielle Lived the Teenage Goth Life I Never Did"
.
noisey
. Retrieved
29 April
2019
.
- ^
Kreps, Daniel (28 January 2019).
"Mountain Goats Create 'Dragon Noir' Genre With New Album 'In League With Dragons'
"
.
Rolling Stone
.
Penske Media Corporation
. Retrieved
29 January
2019
.
- ^
Darnielle, John (April 10, 2020).
"Songs for Pierre Chuvin"
.
Bandcamp
. Retrieved
April 10,
2020
.
- ^
"the Mountain Goats - Songs for Pierre Chuvin"
.
Merge Records
. April 10, 2020
. Retrieved
April 10,
2020
.
- ^
"Getting Into Knives"
.
Bandcamp
. Retrieved
11 August
2020
.
- ^
Ruiz, Matthew (19 April 2021).
"The Mountain Goats Announce New Album dark in here, Share New Song: Listen"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
19 April
2021
.
- ^
"Bleed Out"
.
Bandcamp
. Retrieved
June 2,
2022
.
- ^
Bloom, Madison (29 August 2023).
"The Mountain Goats Announce New Album Jenny From Thebes, Share New Song "Mobile": Listen"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
29 August
2023
.
- ^
The Mountain Goats
at
AllMusic
- ^
"Little Boxes"
.
Consequence of Sound
. 30 July 2012
. Retrieved
July 30,
2012
.
- ^
"The Mountain Goats | Writer, Composer, Soundtrack"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
2023-11-02
.
- ^
Brown, Jake (January 21, 2010).
"The Mountain Goats on Jimmy Fallon"
. Glorious Noise
. Retrieved
December 26,
2011
.
- ^
Brodsky, Rachel (7 April 2015).
"Watch the Mountain Goats Introduce a 'Foreign Object to 'Seth Meyers'
"
. Spin
. Retrieved
17 October
2019
.
- ^
Zemler, Emily (17 July 2019).
"Watch Stephen Colbert Perform 'This Year' With the Mountain Goats"
.
Rolling Stone
.
Penske Media Corporation
. Retrieved
24 September
2019
.
Further reading
External links
|
---|
|
Albums
| |
---|
Released demos
| |
---|
Cassette releases
| |
---|
EPs and singles
| |
---|
Individual songs
| |
---|
Collaborations
| |
---|
Compilation albums
| |
---|
Unreleased
| |
---|
Former collaborators
| |
---|
Related articles
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|