It's nearly pointless to review a Mountain Goats record for me because I'm always going to love it. All Eternals Deck is John Darnielle's continuing adventures in hi-fi and also recording with permanent band-mates Peter Hughes and John Wurster. I know that many folks miss some sort of overarching concept (a la The Sunset Tree or Heretic Pride), but it's the singular moments in the individual songs that pull me out of my own skin.
Minimal guitar, bass and drums are the workhorses of most Mountain Goats songs over the last few years, but here on Deck the additional arrangements are integral instead of floral. The barbershop quartet rhythm section on album standout "High Hawk Season" perfectly suites the message of the song, Darnielle declaring, "We are young supernovas/and the heat's about to break." I imagine the band in the middle of a protest; signs, bricks and megaphones aplenty. Elsewhere, the string arrangements on "Age of Kings" and the angelic "Outer Scorpion Squadron" add a particular majesty to these tortured souls, Darnielle's hushed voice telling us bedtime stories of the broken.
I sit here at a loss on how I could convince anyone to listen to The Mountain Goats if they haven't before now. It's like a Twilight Zone episode where the protagonist in a small town finds a mountain of gold in his basement. He tries showing the neighbors, his friends, the mayor, but to no avail. No one can see it, but him. Desperately he drags the karats into the streets until people see that through his struggle, he is no fool. My only words to the uninitiated, Darnielle would write a song about this man with dignity and grace. This is All Eternals Deck, and The Mountain Goats, in a nutshell.
Listen:
The Mountain Goats-"High Hawk Season"
The Mountain Goats-"Outer Scorpion Squadron"
Look:
Mountain Goats official site
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