Photo by DL Anderson
It’s been three years since we last heard from the Mountain Goats– although singer John Darnielle gave fans something to hold onto by releasing a book last year. Darnielle has been spending that time raising his children, in addition to working on more music, as stated in his most recent blog post. And so the band has decided to come out of their cave and launch themselves back onto the scene, starting with a brand new album titled Beat The Champ. In classic Mountain Goats fashion, the album is set to be full of their signature quirk by focusing on a particularly obscure theme in the world of music- wrestling.
Darnielle said in his blog post, “The songs about the animals and dinosaurs you can only wrangle out of me if 1) you’re one of my sons or 2) I’m feeling sentimental, and the Ozzy songs must ripen in the darkness until the fullness of the last days. But the wrestling songs, several of which, surprise surprise, are really more about death and difficult-to-navigate interior spaces than wrestling — those will all be let out of their cages on April 7th in North America.”
So while the world prepares for the pessimist’s troubador to wrap his uniquely nasally vocals around songs that we hope are as much of a K.O. as their motif suggests, the Mountain Goats have prepared a mostly pre-release tour to celebrate. Working their way up north before heading out west, the tour spans North America throughout April and May. And who knows- maybe we’ll see their names on the remaining yet to be released festival lineups.
Catch them in Boston on April 14th at the House of Blues.
If you can’t wait until then, check out the narrative single from Beat The Champ– “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero”, calling back to the Mountain Goats’ roots, yet implementing more upbeat power pop influences.
January
24-25 – Sketchfest, San Francisco, CA
April
2 – Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
3 – The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC
4 – The Jinx, Savannah, GA
7 – The Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC
8 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
9 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY
11 – City Winery, New York, NY
12 – City Winery, New York, NY
13 – Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA
14 – House of Blues, Boston, MA
16 – Bogart’s, Cincinnati, OH
17 – Majestic Theatre, Detroit, MI
18 – Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
19 – Cedar Cultural Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
21 – Headliners, Louisville, KY
22 – Wexner Center, Columbus, OH
23 – Mr. Small’s Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
May
8-10 – Shaky Knees Festival, Atlanta, GA
26 – Gothic Theatre, Denver, CO
27 – Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
29 – The Showbox, Seattle, WA
30 – Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
June
1 – The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
3 – Mayan Theater, Los Angeles, CA