The Mountain Goats | |
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 The Mountain Goats in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Claremont,California, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed inClaremont,California, by singer-songwriterJohn Darnielle. The band is currently based inDurham,North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the plural moniker. Although he remains the core member of the band, he has worked with a variety of collaborators over time, including bassist and vocalistPeter Hughes, drummerJon Wurster, multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, singer-songwriterFranklin Bruno, bassist and vocalist Rachel Ware, singer-songwriter/producerJohn Vanderslice, guitaristKaki King, and multi-instrumentalistAnnie Clark.[2]
Throughout the 1990s, the Mountain Goats were known for producinglow-fidelityhome recordings (most notably, on acassette deckboombox) and releasing recordings incassette orvinyl 7-inch formats.[3] Since 2002, the Mountain Goats have adopted a more polished approach, often recording studio albums with a full band.[3][4]
The band's name is a reference to theScreamin' Jay Hawkins song "Yellow Coat".[3] Darnielle released his first recording as the Mountain Goats (Taboo VI: The Homecoming, onShrimper Records) in 1991.[3] Many of his first recordings and performances featured Darnielle accompanied by members of the all-girl reggae band the Casual Girls, who became known as the Bright Mountain Choir. One of this group's members, Rachel Ware, continued to accompany Darnielle on bass, both live and in studio, until 1995.[5]
The first five years of the Mountain Goats' career saw a prolific output of songs on cassette, vinyl and CD. These releases spanned multiple labels and countries of origin, often released in limited numbers. The focus of the Mountain Goats project was the urgency of writing.[6] Songs not recorded adequately to tape within days of being written were often forgotten.[citation needed] Cassette releases during this time includeThe Hound Chronicles,Transmissions to Horace,Hot Garden Stomp,Taking the Dative, andYam, the King of Crops.
In 1994, the Mountain Goats released their first full-lengthstudio album,Zopilote Machine, onAjax Records. It is the band's only full album featuring the entirety of the Bright Mountain Choir.
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By 1995, most of what could be considered classic Mountain Goats conventions (boom-box recording, song series, Latin quotes, and mythological themes) were abandoned in favor of a more thematically focused and experimental sound.[citation needed] This period was marked by Darnielle's collaborations with other artists includingAlastair Galbraith andSimon Joyner. In November 1996, Darnielle announced a vow to "clear his musical tendency for profanity" to promote a more optimistic reception to the ideas outlined in his material.[citation needed]
In 1995, the albumSweden was released. Soon after its recording, a sequel titledHail and Farewell, Gothenburg was recorded, but never released. It remained unheard by the general public until 2007, when it was leaked against Darnielle's wishes. In 1996, the Mountain Goats released the albumNothing for Juice, andFull Force Galesburg the following year. Rachel Ware left the band between recording the two albums, and bassistPeter Hughes took over her position.
Between 1998 and 2000, the Mountain Goats slowed down their prolific output, releasingThe Coroner's Gambit in October 2000. The album partially returned to the band's roots, as most songs were sporadically recorded on Darnielle's oldPanasonic RX-FT500cassette deckBoombox, which produced a loud background noise to the songs.
2002 saw the release of two Mountain Goats albums:All Hail West Texas andTallahassee. These albums mark a distinct change in focus for the Mountain Goats project, being the first in a series of concept albums that explore aspects of The Mountain Goats' canon in depth.All Hail West Texas featured the resurrection of Darnielle's early boom box recording for a complete album. Darnielle considers this album to be the culmination of his lo-fi recording style.Tallahassee, the first Mountain Goats album to be recorded with a full band and in a studio,[7] explores and concludes the relationship of a couple whose lives were the subject of the song cycle known as the Alpha Series.[8] It was the first album to be released on a major label,4AD, marking the start of the 4AD years of the band.
Also released that year wasMartial Arts Weekend, attributed toThe Extra Glenns, a collaboration withFranklin Bruno on several previously unreleased Mountain Goats songs.[5] Following that recording, Bruno joined Darnielle in the studio along with bassistPeter Hughes, who was the second official member of the band and accompanied Darnielle on tour. These three musicians formed what was considered the Mountain Goats studio band.
In 2004, the Mountain Goats releasedWe Shall All Be Healed. The album marked a number of changes for the Mountain Goats, as it was the first time Darnielle worked with producerJohn Vanderslice, and the first album of directly autobiographical material.We Shall All Be Healed chronicles Darnielle's life with a group of friends and acquaintances addicted tomethamphetamine inPortland, Oregon,[9] though the album is set inPomona, California.[citation needed] The following year, the band's second Vanderslice-produced album,The Sunset Tree, was released. Again autobiographical, Darnielle tackled the subject of his early childhood spent with an abusive stepfather.[10][11] Darnielle had previously dealt with this subject in what he often refers to as the only "extensively autobiographical" song he had written before 2004, the 1999 unreleased song "You're in Maya".[12] The Mountain Goats relocated toDurham, North Carolina in 2006, and issuedGet Lonely, which was produced byScott Solter, who had worked with Vanderslice on engineering for prior Mountain Goats records.
Jon Wurster joined the group in 2007, playing drums on the last leg of theGet Lonely tour. The band recorded tracks for its next album at Prairie Sun studios.[13] EntitledHeretic Pride, the album was released on 19 February 2008.[14] Produced by John Vanderslice and Scott Solter, the album saw Darnielle, Hughes, and Wurster joined by Franklin Bruno, Erik Friedlander,Annie Clark (better known by her stage name, St. Vincent), and members of The Bright Mountain Choir.[14] Americanalternative hip hop artistAesop Rock released a remix of the track "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" from the album, and in return Darnielle contributed vocals to his albumNone Shall Pass, in the song "Coffee".
In 2009, Darnielle and Vanderslice collaborated on the recordMoon Colony Bloodbath. Released in a limited vinyl run of 1000 and sold during their "Gone Primitive" tour, the EP was a concept record aboutorgan harvesting colonies on theMoon. This was followed by the next full Mountain Goats album,The Life of the World to Come, which released in October of the same year.[15] The album is composed of twelve tracks, each one inspired by (and titled after) a single verse of the ChristianBible. In publicizing the record, the band made their first ever television appearance, performing "Psalms 40:2" onThe Colbert Report, hosted by professed Mountain Goats fanStephen Colbert.[16]
The Mountain Goats signed toMerge Records, home to drummer Jon Wurster's other band,Superchunk, in 2010.[17][18] The label issued a new record byThe Extra Lens, formerly The Extra Glenns, entitledUndercard, followed by another Mountain Goats LP,All Eternals Deck, in 2011.[18][19] They were also chosen byJeff Mangum ofNeutral Milk Hotel to perform at theAll Tomorrow's Parties festival that he was due to curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England, but were unable to appear due to a rescheduling.[20]
The band's fourteenth studio album,Transcendental Youth, was released in late 2012,[21] and in early 2013 they played at Carnegie Hall in support ofJohn Green andHank Green in their "Evening of Awesome" performance.[22][23] In July 2013,All Hail West Texas was re-released on vinyl. During an interview withStereogum in August 2012, John Darnielle said thatAmy Grant was his favorite pop artist, and noted that "Rich Mullins is one of the best songwriters I know of."[24] Mullins was the songwriter who penned many of Grant's hits.
The Mountain Goats released their 15th album,Beat the Champ, on 7 April 2015, again withMerge Records.[25] According toPitchfork Media, the album concentrates on theprofessional wrestlers Darnielle admired when he was a child and tries to develop and imagine their lives.[26] Multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas assisted the group in recording the album, and soon thereafter became a full-time member.[27]
In January 2017, the Mountain Goats recorded a humorous song per request of directorRian Johnson, depicting an alternate story of his upcoming movie,Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The song, titled "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones", was published on Johnson'sSoundCloud page.[28]
In May 2017, they released their sixteenth studio album,Goths.[29] The band has stated thatGoths was inspired by an adolescence listening toThe Cure,Bauhaus,Siouxsie and the Banshees, andJoy Division, as well as hearing songs on the Californian radio stationKROQ-FM.[30]
In January 2019, the band announced the April 26 release of theirDungeons & Dragons inspired album,In League with Dragons (and released initial single, "Younger"), via Merge Records. The announcement was accompanied by a live music stream from theWizards of the Coast headquarters.[31]
In March 2020, while theCOVID-19 pandemic left the band unable to tour, Darnielle retrieved his old Panasonic RX-FT500 tape deck and recorded 10 new songs, using the direct-to-boombox method for the first time since 2002'sAll Hail West Texas. The resulting album, entitledSongs for Pierre Chuvin, was inspired by Darnielle's reading ofPierre Chuvin's 1990 bookA Chronicle of the Last Pagans, and was released digitally on April 10, 2020, with a limited physical release on cassette through Merge Records.[32][33]
The Mountain Goats announced in August 2020 that the band's nineteenth studio album,Getting Into Knives, would be released on October 23, 2020, on CD, vinyl, cassette, and digital.[34]
In April 2021, the Mountain Goats announced their albumDark in Here, released on June 25, alongside the release of its first single "Mobile". The album was recorded atFAME Studios.[35] The band's 21st album,Bleed Out, was released on August 19, 2022.[36]
In July 2023, the band announced their 22nd albumJenny from Thebes, a "rock opera about a woman named Jenny",[37] would be released on October 27, 2023. The character "Jenny" has appeared in several previous songs by the band, notably in several fromAll Hail West Texas.
Peter Hughes announced his departure from the band in August 2024, citing "health and sanity" concerns among other reasons.[38][39]
Studio albums
In theShowtime television seriesWeeds, the band performed the Theme to Weeds (Malvina Reynolds’ "Little Boxes") during the opening credits of Season 8, Episode 5.[47] TheAdult Swim showMoral Orel featured "Love, Love, Love", "Old College Try", and "No Children" on several episodes of Season 3.[48]
The band made their television debut on October 6, 2009, playing "Psalms 40:2" onThe Colbert Report. On January 19, 2010, they played "Genesis 3:23" onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon.[49] On February 23, 2011, they played "Birth of Serpents" in support of their album,All Eternals Deck, on theLate Show with David Letterman. On April 6, 2015, the band performed "Foreign Object" onLate Night with Seth Meyers while promotingBeat the Champ.[50] In July 2019, the band performed onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, withStephen Colbert joining in to sing "This Year".[51]
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