The Mountain Goats
Heretic Pride
4AD, 2008
*** out of five
John Darnielle, leader of The Mountain Goats, has been operating under the radar for so long now, that it seems almost inevitable that Heretic Pride will continue his tradition of releasing albums that people should listen to but mostly don’t. Unbelievably, Heretic Pride is The Mountain Goats’ fifteenth or sixteenth album in the past seventeen years, depending on whose history you believe. Obviously, Darnielle has an impressive body of work, but then again quantity is no substitute for quality. So does Heretic Pride measure up? In some ways, it’s the Goats’ finest work, but in somehow it lacks the overarching themes and unity of career highlight, 2002’s Tallahassee.
The recording quality is The Mountain Goats’ best yet: it’s clean and uncluttered while being embellished with tasteful instrumentation. The cellos swoop and glide over songs like In the Craters of the Moon, and strings quietly support many of the other songs. More than most other Goats recordings, Heretic Pride rocks an unconventional, almost Waterboys-like vibe, both in the acoustic moods of the Irish rockers’ Fisherman’s Blues and the rockier Dream Harder. In fact, the way Darnielle phrases songs like Lovecraft in Brooklyn is uncannily similar to Mike Scott’s intonation.