Photo by DL Anderson

Back in January, misfits worldwide were overjoyed to discover The Mountain Goats‘ return to the scene. As announced in a blog post, frontman John Darnielle said he would be creating their next opus, a concept album about professional wrestling.

"THREE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS I KNOW I'M GOING TO KEEP
1) write more
2) tour more
3) release album of songs about professional wrestling"

And he kept his promise. Darnielle actually admits the songs aren’t totally about wrestling per se, but focus more centrally on themes of trying times that can be tough to overcome- something akin to wrestling, at least. The album also channels the childlike wonder he’d watch the sport with in his youth, incorporating that into The Mountain Goats’ already seemingly absurd motifs. Perhaps they’re quirky, but they’ve certainly become masters of their own craft.

Beat The Champ is officially due out April 7th, and is available for pre-order through Merge Records, but if you just can’t wrestle back your anticipation, you can check out the K.O. of an album over at NPR. Be sure to catch them at the House Of Blues on April 14th.