From the beginning, the Mountain Goats have captured the intensity of Darnielle’s lyrical vision by utilizing very low-tech productions. The music traveled by cassette tape from a cassette recorder Darnielle used at his work as a psychiatric nurse. For percussion he used the background hiss of late-night television. John toured with a bass player, first Rachel Ware and then Peter Hughes, including California and Chicago, where he later moved. He released an EP, Nine Black Poppies, in (emperor jones records, p.o. box 49771, Austin TX 78765).In The Sunset Tree, the previous release, Darnielle explored his own emotional state, creating songs largely based on his relationship with an abusive and alcoholic step-father. Get lonely while equally and as intensely personal, delves , more deeply into emotional state, hopefully not Darnielle’s own, but based on his experiences as a psychiatric nurse. The opening track gives us the first person account of a schizophrenic, wandering out of his home to start his day:
I leave the house as soon as it gets light outside
like a prisoner breaking out of jail.
and I steal down to business 15-501
like I had a bounty hunter on my tail
…I laugh to myself and look up at the skies
and then I think I hear angels in my ears
like marbles being thrown against a mirror…
The hearing voices operates not as metaphor but as description. The
Durham 15-501, currently under construction, marks a “superstreet” in Darnielle’s current home town.The catchiest tune on the CD might be Woke Up New. I caught my 12-year-old daughter working the song out on the piano, singing the catch
and I sang oh
what do I do?
what do I do?
what do I do?
what do I do without you?
The song, like much of Darnielle’s writing, tells of recent romantic loss. Another break-up song comes in the title track Get Lonely a truly, hauntingly beautiful song, both tune and lyric.
The Mountain Goats opened their recent world tour here in Minneapolis, at the Triple Rock on September 14th. I had an extra ticket to the show. When I got to the Triple Rock, on the campus at the University of Minnesota, the line already stretched down the block. There is no question that I was by far the oldest person there. I would guess the crowd averaged about 22, and every one of them sat on the sidewalk reading a book-if only I had a camera! The reading no doubt demonstrates the literacy of both the band and the fans. Darnielle peppers his songs with classical illusions, and I mean classical in the Roman/Greek sense, not classic rock.
The Mountain Goats’ played Get lonely straight through at the Triple Rock show. (Joanna Newsom tried the same thing with Ys down the street at The 400 on December 8, a tough venue for a harp player.) Darnielle could barely contain his excitement during the show, flailing away at his guitar as he tried to remember the lyrics. The crowd sang along to most of the songs, except for a remarkable take on the outstanding Cobra Tattoo, during which you could hear a pin drop. Darnielle did not disappoint ardent fans. For the mosh pit, they played both Cubs in Five and See America Right
Get Lonely ranks the top of essential listening for the releases for 2006.
September 14 - Minneapolis, MN, Triple Rock Social Club
http://www.mountain-goats.com/ (band website)
http://www.themountaingoats.net/ (fan site with discography, lyrics, and tabs)
http://www.islandgardensong.com/home/mg/live/ (fan site with concert recordings for download)
http://www.alibris.com/wish/list.cfm?action=list&S=R&email=editor%40lastplanetojakarta.com&Go.x=16&Go.y=10 (John’s wish list)
http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/index.php (John’s web log)
http://3bos.com/ (3 Beads of Sweat, Mountain Goats news, and Cd’s)
http://www.fivetools.com/ (Peter’s erratic web log)
http://www.archive.org/index.php (Internet Archive with fan recordings for download)
http://sixeyes.blogspot.com/2006/09/mountain-goats-john-darnielle.html (A Blogspot interview)
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