Transcendental Youth

fantano

Though the new Mountain Goats album doesn't hold many surprises for longtime fans, John Darnielle does continue delivering some of the most unique and riveting tales in the singer-songwriter world.

rollingstone

An album full of characters struggling against dead-end jobs, drug addiction and depression doesn't exactly sound inviting, but in the hands of John Darnielle, it's magic. Darnielle is a former psychiatric nurse; his catchy, gracefully appointed chamber-pop songs paint portraits of dread and paranoia with empathy and precision. "Harlem Roulette" – which jump-cuts from Frankie […]

pitchfork

As they hide out from the cops, root through garbage, peer paranoid through the blinds, and dig their nails into their hands just for something to do, the protagonists on the Mountain Goats newest are linked not by place or time but by a particular spiritual stance. And a horn section.