THE MOUNTAIN GOATS
BY WILLIAM LENNON
Though they’ve been with us for decades now, The Mountain Goats still find ways to surprise us. Take 2015’s Beat The Champ, a concept album whose foundation was the mythology of the backyard wrestling scene of the 1980s. On the surface, it’s pretty different from albums like All Hail West Texas or The Sunset Tree, but they exist in the service of the same sense of pathos and longing, with or without the frog masks and capes. Their newest project tackles another specific moment in time, the rise of a vampiric caste of 20-somethings that sprang up around bands like The Cure. Whether or not you were a Goth or loved wrestling, and regardless of whether you grew up in Texas, you can almost certainly find a way to connect with (and love) The Mountain Goats.
