The Mountain Goats
Heretic Pride
4AD (2008)

By Nicholas Nocketback

There’s Nothing Baaaaaad About This Album (Wait, That’s A Sheep Noise. What Sound Do Goats Make?)

If you’re unfamiliar with The Mountain Goats, you should know it’s basically one man—John Darnielle—and some light strings and percussion (guitar, cello, low-carb keys, and wispy skins); the rest of the album is vivid story telling the likes of Reader’s Theatre (I mean that in a good way). Heretic Pride is a collection of short stories set to indie folk rock rhythms, with Darnielle as narrator. His plaintive nasally voice begs for an audience and it’s difficult to deny. This album finds The Goats stepping away from the more introspective, autobiographical lyrics of yore and inserts stories of others instead—the form aside, this is quintessential Goats (why did I use quintessential? It’s so cliché).
If you’re a fan of groups like DeVotchka or Los Campesinos or Iron & Wine or Steven Malkmus and The Jicks…than you’ll find this absolutely fascinating and wonder why you weren’t hip enough to find out about them earlier—seeing as The Goats have been making music since ’91.
The Mountains Goats bring back familiar faces with a production staff including John Vanderslice and Scott Solter, and while it’s a bit more produced or polished than his other low-fi records, Heretic Pride will gratify old fans while offering new comers a savory, literary folk fare (I like the term new-comers, it sounds like a couple of virgins who plan to do it for the first time after prom).
When purchasing, try iTunes so you can access the 14th bonus track on the album entitled “Toolshed”. It’s a nifty little piece about an older man luring his children to the tool shed to make them experience a little pain—a family favorite. Some speculate that Darnielle wrote this track about his late stepfather, as many other songs in past albums have explored.
Peep out this album on your own and navigate the mean streets of low-fidelity folk without a posse if you dare, but if you’re in a quick fix, check out 95’s Sweden or 02’s Tallahassee.