The Mountain Goats

John Darnielle is one of the best lyricists in the indie rock realm. His frantic, passionate songs are delivered at a feverish clip that recalls the youthful amphetamine-addled Bob Dylan. On his second album for 4AD, he steps even further away from the lo-fi charm of his early sounds, becoming, simply, a great songwriter.

Bob Dylan proved that vitriol and acoustic guitars could go together, but the Mountain
Goats' John Darnielle has taken confessional folk music to angry new depths. "I hope you
die/I hope we both die," Darnielle told a fictional lover on 2002's Tallahassee; on We Shall
All Be Healed, his gift for pissed-off poetry and left-field details remains intact. Darnielle
gets all he can out of his speed-addled strumming and shrill voice as he complain... More >

Inexhaustible wordslinger, belated bandleader, John Darnielle submits a singer's record. He enunciates so forcefully that any verbal incoherence is your fault, projects so loudly it takes months to notice his backup musicians. This is a record whose idea of poetry is "That's good we can always use more electrical equipment," "I eat a couple of Milky Ways for breakfast," and "Get in the goddamn car." Nothing begins-middles-and-ends like "No Children" or "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" because speed freaks tweaking from one meaningless activity to the next don't generate much narrative logic. Every character is a loser or f*ckup whose future is no bleaker than that of the planet we all inhabit. They aren't redeemed by Darnielle's love because he doesn't love a one of them. But they are redeemed by his interest, in them and in the planet we all inhabit. And whenever he flags a little, they're also redeemed by his backup musicians. (Grade - A)