Far be it from me to argue with the diehard Mountain Goats fans who've canonized his earlier work and decried the poppier, polished sound on his newer releases, but to compartmentalize his discography like that, in terms of the rise in fidelity, and using that as the sole basis of your enjoyment really does John Darnielle a disservice. I've always wondered if there was more to this particularly slavish fetisihism of Darnielle's lo-fi work, some deeper relationship that was only known to those fans who had become enamored of those murky, rough-shod songs from the beginning. Or was it merely the sense of entitlement that fans had from saying that they were there first, that they knew him before he got popular, before he ever got within a mile of a studio? Now to be honest those early recordings are amazing but I find that his later records are more compulsively listenable. Starting with Tallahassee, the production values began to rise and with it his abilities as a songwriter, which grew to meet this new aesthetic. Though it would be hard to argue with the perfectly fractured pop construction and emotional vulnerability of "Family Happiness" from The Coroner's Gambit and "The Recognition Scene" from Sweden, lo-fi-ness and all. And with each passing album, his maturity and constantly creative musical direction kept him firmly rooted among the throngs of wannabe indie singer-songwriters.
On All Eternals Deck, along with bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster, Darnielle mines the furtile surrealist territory already much explored on past Mountain Goats albums. And where earlier records felt like Darnielle with supporting players, All Eternals Deck feels completely informed from all three artsists. There is a joyful looseness to their playing which was missed on some of their ealier recordings. Ostensibly Darnielle handles the reins here but these songs feel as much as a part of Hughes and Wurster as they do him. That's a testament to the presence each have on the songs and the effect they have on each other. "Damn These Vampies" may be the pop-oriented song The Mountain Goats have ever released and it benefits from the very things which fans may attack it for: the clear vocals, the steady building drum beat and the ascending piano melody which urges the song along in its examination of personal relationships and the effects that they have on us. Likewise, "Birth of Serpents" moves along gently, riding on Darnielle's easy-going wordplay and comfortably rhythmic guitar playing, his vocals hitting his higher register at certain points in the song to great effect. The albums deals with the struggles we face every day, no matter who we are. And on "The Autopsy Garland", above a pensive acoustic guitar, we are admonished that "you don't want to see these guys without their masks on." And with that warning Darnielle lays bare his own, as well as the listeners, insecurities concerning the revealing of identities--that behind every person lies some darker persona and we are ever fighting to keep it in check. Just give it time, Darnielle seems to suggest. It's always waiting.
Tracklisting:
01. Damn These Vampires (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Birth of Serpents
03. Estate Sale Sign
04. Age of Kings
05. The Autopsy Garland
06. Beautiful Gas Mask
07. High Hawk Season
08. Prowl Great Cain
09. Sourdoire Valley Song
10. Outer Scorpion Squadron
11. For Charles Bronson
12. Never Quite Free
13. Liza Forever Minnelli
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