Pitchfork

Writing about John Darnielle, master of the defiantly broken hearted put-down ("I'd be grateful my children aren't here to see this/ If you'd ever seen fit to give me children"-- oh no he did not!), used to be all "four-track" this, "bedroom troubadour" that. It's a hard habit to kick, even though now he's palling around with fellow ex-four-tracker John Vanderslice, and is getting to be about as lo-fi as late-era Guided by Voices.

Mountain Goats' Darnielle and Peter Hughes (who has provided bass and backing vocals since 2002's Tallahassee), are taking their not so lo-fi show on a West Coast junket beginning tonight at Anacortes, WA's Department of Safety venue. After that, they'll just slide on down that western coast before winding up at San Diego's Casbah next Saturday. Another show is also scheduled for early June at Chicago's Empty Bottle. The Goats will be supported on all dates (except where otherwise noted) by sexalicious mod-rockers We Ragazzi and weirdo soundbiter Vinny Miller. Check it out it's like a motherfuckin' book from the libraries, yo:

05-21 Anacortes, WA - Department of Safety
05-22 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
05-23 Olympia, WA - The Clipper
05-24 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
05-26 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (w/Destroyer, Frog Eyes)
05-27 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
05-28 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
05-29 San Diego, CA - Casbah
06-04 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle (w/Archer Prewitt, Buried Beds)