Pitchfork

Before the Mountain Goats go on tour, they're coming home, even if it kills 'em. John Darnielle & co. recently made available the first mp3 from the Mountain Goats' forthcoming Heretic Pride, and it opens the album with the tale of a wayfarer returning to his port of call. "Sax Rohmer #1", as the song is called (no explanation that we can hear, but we're patient), shows once again why Darnielle is rated so highly as a lyricist, while his familiar acoustic guitar strums anchor a clean, unobtrusive arrangement-- busy drums, some electric guitar, a touch of strings-- that's a whole lot livelier than most of 2006's quietly devastating Get Lonely, but still keeps the focus where it belongs. The scene: The sun and fog rise over a harbor, getting us to a well-placed "yeah" before the sailors, urchins, and spies come marching in. Yeah.

The chorus melody vaguely recalls that of one of the Mountain Goats' better-known songs, Nine Black Poppies opener "Cubs in Five", except rather than, "And I will love you again," Darnielle is vowing, "And I am coming home to you/ With my own blood in my mouth." But nobody's exactly killing the fatted calf for Darnielle's prodigal wanderer, and eventually his odyssey begins to sound frankly Odyssey-like. "A rabbit gives up somewhere, and a dozen hawks descend/ Every moment leads toward its own sad end," he explains, later adding, "All roads lead toward the same blocked intersection." Don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to learning what road gets this to an album closer called "Michael Myers Resplendent".

MP3:> The Mountain Goats: "Sax Rohmer #1"
[from Heretic Pride; due 02/19/07 on 4AD]