Few bands are as underrated as the Mountain Goats. John Darnielle is one of his generation’s finest songwriters—a phenomenally gifted storyteller who mostly writes songs that are short stories in turns funny, acerbic, heartbreaking and deeply insightful. (Last year, he actually published a novel called Wolf In White Van, and it’s 100% excellent.) The Mountain Goats haven’t released an album in two years but now, a new one is nearly done. It’s called Beat the Champ, and it’s a concept album about professional wrestling. So far, so fantastic. Pro wrestling was apparently an important part of Darnielle’s childhood, as he writes.
You had to bring your imagination to the proceedings and you got paid back double. I wrote these songs to re-immerse myself in the blood and fire of the visions that spoke to me as a child, and to see what more there might be in them now that I’m grown.
The album will release on April 7. If the first single is any indication, it’ll be terrific …