Goths (album)

Goths
Studio album by the Mountain Goats
Released May 19, 2017
Recorded 2017
Genre
Length 55:08
Label Merge
Producer
  • Brandon Eggleston
  • Scott Solter
the Mountain Goats chronology
Beat the Champ
(2015)Beat the Champ2015		 Goths
(2017)

Goths is the sixteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on May 19, 2017, on Merge Records.[1][2][3] The band has stated that Goths was inspired by an adolescence listening to The Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division, as well as hearing songs on the Californian radio station KROQ-FM.[4]

Background

Singer John Darnielle spent his teenage years listening to dark music and was attracted by outsiders at school. In 2014, prior to recording Goths, he performed live a cover version of "Spellbound", a single by one of his favourite bands Siouxsie and the Banshees.[5]

Content

For the album, Darnielle wrote lyrics with references to some of his favourite bands. On "Abandoned Flesh", they sing: The Cure's Robert Smith may be "secure at his villa in France" and Siouxsie Sioux "had enough hits to keep the bills paid".[6] The Guardian describes Darnielle's writing as "evocative", with lines such as "Outside it’s 92 degrees and KROQ plays Siouxsie and the Banshees" [7] "92°" being the title of a Siouxsie song. The track "Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds" is a description of the Sisters of Mercy frontman.[6] "Rain in Soho" includes the line "There’s a club where you’d like to go

You could meet someone who’s lost like you" an allusion to The Smiths, "How Soon is Now?" The lyrics have been described as a mix of "wry insight and black humour". Musically, the songs have been compared to artists such as Nick Cave, Prefab Sprout, and New Order.[7]

Bassist Peter Hughes described the album's theme as goth, covering the bands that "never made it out of Fender's Ballroom, the Gene Loves Jezebels of the world—the ones whose gothic paths were overtaken by the realities of life, or of its opposite."[8] Track #13, "Shelved", is the first Mountain Goats song to feature lyrics written by Hughes.

Goths is the first Mountain Goats album not to feature any guitars, excluding bass guitar.

Release

The album was announced by Merge on February 22, 2017, after which the second track, "Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds", was released for streaming on the band's Bandcamp page.[1][2][3] The announcement was accompanied by a Facebook live stream.[1][2][3] The second single, "Rain in Soho", was released Apr 25, 2017 on Merge's YouTube channel. [9]

The album was released May 19, 2017, on Merge Records.[1][2][3][8] A special edition is available, which comes with an additional 12" record featuring four ambient non-album tracks.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Guardian[7]
Pitchfork Media8/10[12]
Slant magazine[6]

Goths was acclaimed by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82 (based on 17 reviews) indicating "universal acclaim."[10]

Track listing

All tracks written by John Darnielle, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Rain in Soho"4:46
2."Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds"4:18
3."The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement"4:54
4."We Do It Different on the West Coast"5:21
5."Unicorn Tolerance"5:24
6."Stench of the Unburied"4:30
7."Wear Black"4:11
8."Paid in Cocaine"3:57
9."Rage of Travers"5:54
10."Shelved" (John Darnielle and Peter Hughes)4:01
11."For the Portuguese Goth Metal Bands"4:10
12."Abandoned Flesh"3:42

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[13] 6
Scottish Albums (OCC)[14] 85
US Billboard 200[15] 89

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Arcand, Rob (February 22, 2017). "New Music: The Mountain Goats Announce New Album Goths, Share "Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds"". Spin. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kaye, Ben (February 22, 2017). "The Mountain Goats announce new album, Goths, share "Andrew Eldritch is Moving Back to Leeds" — listen". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Lange, Jeremy (February 22, 2017). "The Mountain Goats Announce New Album Goths, Share "Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds"". Paste magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  4. ↑ Lindsay, Cam (18 May 2017). "John Darnielle Lived the Teenage Goth Life I Never Did". noisey.vice.com. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  5. ↑ The Mountain Goats - Spellbound (Siouxsie & The Banshees). 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Goller, Josh (12 May 2017). "The Mountain Goats Goths review". slantmagazine.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 Simpson, Dave (18 May 2017). "The Mountain Goats: Goths review – songwriting master makes a magnetic return". slantmagazine.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. 1 2 "The Mountain Goats sharpen their eyeliner and return with new album Goths". Merge Records. February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Mountain Goats "Rain in Soho"". YouTube. April 25, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Reviews for Goths by The Mountain Goats". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  11. ↑ Mark, Deming. "Goths – review". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Goths – review". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 29, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  15. ↑ "The Mountain Goats – Chart history" Billboard 200 for The Mountain Goats. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
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