Release Date: March 29, 2011
Led by perennial singer-songwriter/guitarist John Darnielle, The Mountain Goats have returned with All Eternals Deck. Boasting their traditionally minimal soundscape and alt-folk sensibilities, the album is another effort in a long line of quality records from the band, whose work in the past decade was nothing short of prolific.
For their newest record, Darnielle sticks to his guns. By and large, All Eternals Deck sounds exactly like a Mountain Goats record should. Fitted with the requisite lo-fi production techniques and bleating vocal qualities of previous works, Darnielle’s “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” ethos is either comforting or boring, depending on who you ask.
This go-around, however, seems to lie in the latter. On one hand, it’s nice to see Darnielle commit himself so earnestly to an aesthetic. The plague of reinvention has marred the career of so many artists in the past.
The Mountain Goats, however, have been one of the steadiest acts in pop, both in quantity and quality—eight albums in ten years, some better than others, but each at least mildly listenable.
As All Eternals Deck progresses from track to track, there are minimal surprises. Cuts like “The Autopsy Garland” and “Beautiful Gas Mask” are very much in the vein of Darnielle’s earlier songs but remain entirely enjoyable. Other songs, such as the ballad “Outer Scorpion Squadron,” have ridiculous titles but possess a stirring emotionalism that Darnielle rarely showcases.
Truly, his energy is what drives the band as a whole. His hurried playing style and anti-twang vocal presence are just kooky enough to avoid being overtly annoying. And having been in the game for more than 20 years, making music with The Mountain Goats and a myriad other side projects, Darnielle knows how to craft a tune to that bolsters his strengths as an artist.
But as prolific as Darnielle and The Mountain Goats have been, there are undeniable stretches of stagnation. There are moments on All Eternals Deck are strikingly ineffective. For instance, “Estate Sale Sign,” is a speedy but deceiving little tune—most likely revved up to hide the fact that there’s not a whole lot to it—while the closer “Liza Minelli Forever” is largely forgettable track that fails to wrap up an album that is already faltering well before it reaches its conclusion.
To put it bluntly: All Eternals Deck is just another Mountain Goats album.
A few hits, the occasional throwaway track, all-around enjoyable if not slightly forgettable. That may sound reductive and even unfair to so say, Darnielle’s veritable saturation has warranted nothing less. The Mountain Goats released more albums in the ’00s than most bands do in a career, and while none of them were outwardly bad, it reaches a point when “enough is enough” becomes a justifiable decry.
All Eternals Deck doesn’t quite reach that point, but it pushes the envelope. It’s hard to imagine how much longer Darnielle will ride this train. Will there be another eight Mountain Goats releases this decade? At this rate, most likely. Time will tell whether that’s a good thing.
The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck Tracklist:
- “Damn These Vampires”
- “Birth of Serpents”
- “Estate Sale Sign”
- “Age of Kings”
- “The Autopsy Garland”
- “Beautiful Gas Mask”
- “High Hawk Season”
- “Prowl Great Cain”
- “Sourdoire Valley Song”
- “Outer Scorpion Squadron”
- “For Charles Bronson”
- “Never Quite Free”
- “Liza Forever Minnelli”
