Pitchfork

John Darnielle isn't the kind of singer who's going to tell you who to vote for or why you're a bad person for buying your favorite jeans. He's still decidedly political, though, and that carries over into his songwriting with the Mountain Goats in an extremely personal way-- vivid details rather than broad-stroke slogans. Public radio's "Weekend America" asked him to write a song about tomorrow's Super Tuesday primaries, and the Mountain Goats have responded with a short, haunting, piano-based tune that's as unabashed about its positions as it is disenchanted with the political system. "We voted down the tax codes/ And we voted down the war," Darnielle proclaims, then sounds a more guarded note: "So many names to choose from, just one way to go." Of course, this follows some verses about candidates who kiss "post-born babies" with vampire teeth, pledge fealty in blood to their "cloven-hoofed prince," and practice the folksy twang they learned from an accent coach in Oklahoma.

Compare the Mountain Goats' effort to this good-intentioned but sadly heavy-handed new video you may have seen by Will.i.am, Common, Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, a Dylan son who didn't sing "One Headlight", and former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Called "Yes We Can", the clip sets Barack Obama's empowering "yes, we can" mantra to acoustic guitar and overwrought vocals. Obama's soaring rhetoric can make his campaign speeches unusually lyrical, but as actual lyrics, it sounds a whole lot like a campaign speech. Darnielle just wants to tell us about Satan-worshippers.

Stream:> The Mountain Goats: "Down to the Ark"
[the Mountain Goats' Heretic Pride is due 02/19/08 on 4AD]