The Mountain Goats have been around since 1991 with each recording ranging in quality and instrumentation. John Darneille’s new effort pleases the senses with guitars, piano, strings and delicate rhythm tracks. With the exception of “Estate Sale Sign” and “Prowl Great Cain” most of these endevors are slow to medium tempo movements. You tend to get that warm feeling as the strings and or piano push the vocals back and forth at just the right times. A genuine laid back indulgence to enjoy on a lazy Sunday afternoon with the windows open.
“Damn These Vampires” – Nice intimate drum shuffle crawling along with a piano and acoustic rhythm. The vocals carry on about a story of how life can change you. – “let the whole world hear your knuckles crack”
“Birth Of Serpents” – Upbeat acoustic driven song with a slow build that completely opens up after the bridge. – “clutch you birthright in your wrist”
“Estate Sale Sign” – Explodes on the first beat and doesn’t slow down till the end. This song makes you think about the evolution of society and culture.
“Age Of Kings“- Drops down to an slow-tempoed acoustic being carried by strings for an intimate setting and tells a story of love for a lot of things but mainly for someone special.
“The Autopsy Garland” – This is a short ditty about corruption and indulgence. – “you don’t want to see these guys, without their masks on”
“Beautiful Gas Mask” – A strait driving, medium tempo rock tune about accepting what’s out of your control – “Never sleep, remember to breath deep”
“High Hawk Season” – A very nice medium tempo song. It comes complete with 3 part vocal accompaniment as the rhythm and acoustic guitar and a theme of coming together to stand up for something. – “the summer will reveal itself to those whose hearts are true”
“Prowl Great Cain” – This is a fast paced medium tempo song with driving guitars and sharp vocals.
“Sourdoire Valley Song” – A journey through life evolving till the end in a slow tempo guitar and piano driven song.
“Outer Scorpion Squadron” – Piano driven piece with beautiful moving vocals and incredible dynamics.
“For Charles Bronson” – The trials and tribulations of Charles Bronson.
“Never Quite Free” – Advise given on top of a rolling piano, occasionally reinforced by drums and guitars.
“Liza Forever Minnelli” – A different take on the actress Liza.
As a three piece, drummer John Wurster does a fantastic job with dynamics and bassist Peter Hughes knows just when to pop in and out which holds Darneille’s guitars and vocals perfectly. The backing accompanyment from the North Mountain singers instantly takes your heart in the one of a kind track off this album.
Mike Wilson is a producer/engineer for Ardent Studios with a B.A. in Music Production via Webster University in St Louis. Living and working in Memphis for 6 years have put him in touch with the core of Memphis Music. His work with local giants like Lucero and headlining bands like Smashing Pumpkins have made him a noteworthy talent.
The Mountain Goats are a trio from the mid-Atlantic and points north, helmed by John Darnielle (“one of America’s most startling lyricist/poets” —Boston Herald) and kept honest by Peter Hughes and Jon Wurster. Though the Mountain Goats have been making records since the battle of Little Big Horn, All Eternals Deck is their third following the ratification by unanimous vote of their trio lineup (the bill, known as the Jon Wurster Mountain Goats Drummer Act of 2007, passed 2–0 with zero abstentions).
Having taken to the open road as soon as the act was signed into law and consolidated their powers into a focused triune weapon, the three spent 2010 making commando raids on studios up the seaboard from Tampa to Boston, recording along the way with producers John Congleton, Brandon Eggleston, Erik Rutan and Scott Solter. Gravitating toward images and stories of doomed people or tribes trying to leave a scratch mark or two on some visible surface before their brief moment in the sun has slipped by forever, All Eternals Deckcontinues Darnielle’s career-long quest to find hard-won moments of joy in the momentary resolve of people who have recognized, in the glare of a train’s oncoming head lamp, their fate.
Check the LP cover art here! All Eternals Deck vinyl is pressed in 3 colors; 120 blue, 880 clear, and 3,000 black. Colors are packaged randomly throughout the run; we cannot accept requests for specific colors.
