All I could think of the first time I heard this song was the Thylacine Wolf. And how unlikely it was that such a creature survived just long enough for

All I could think of the first time I heard this song was the Thylacine Wolf. And how unlikely it was that such a creature survived just long enough for us to get weird video of it, and then - entirely because of us - died out. This is a

Afraid I don't have much for this one. It's a song about going back to where you used to belong. Sort of like The Old Apartment by Barenaked Ladies, which

Afraid I don't have much for this one. It's a song about going back to where you used to belong. Sort of like The Old Apartment by Barenaked Ladies, which is the most blasphemous comparison I will make this whole year I think. Sorry, I'm drained. Multiple long days. Prepping

The core of this song is a simple and beautiful ballad. Someone living with the torments of the world finding consolation in the memory and love of someone who is

The core of this song is a simple and beautiful ballad. Someone living with the torments of the world finding consolation in the memory and love of someone who is not there. I know you're thinking of me 'cause it's just about to rain is an entirely perfect line and

This is an oblique song, and seemingly deliberately so. John likes to unpack the personal behind walls of allegory and imagery, and so allegory and imagery are what we're left

This is an oblique song, and seemingly deliberately so. John likes to unpack the personal behind walls of allegory and imagery, and so allegory and imagery are what we're left with. This gives us a second day of songs about bodies. And in particular about the yawning chasm between the

I've gone through a lot of influences that I see prominently in Mountain Gopats songs. Lots of Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen, some They Might Be giants, a lot of

I've gone through a lot of influences that I see prominently in Mountain Gopats songs. Lots of Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen, some They Might Be giants, a lot of hardcore and post-hardcore. I wasn't expecting Creedence Clearwater Revival. And yet here we are. That's where we are musically. Lyrically,

This is a smoky and low key song, primarily John and his guitar with strange itinerant percussion moving through slowly. In terms of content it's a meditation on witchcraft, or

This is a smoky and low key song, primarily John and his guitar with strange itinerant percussion moving through slowly. In terms of content it's a meditation on witchcraft, or upon what is treated as witchcraft. The lead character is a healer of - as far as we know -

Going to do this for The Life Of The World To Come. These songs have associated bible verses, so let's actually read the bible verses. KJV because I'm English and

Going to do this for The Life Of The World To Come. These songs have associated bible verses, so let's actually read the bible verses. KJV because I'm English and that's the C of E bible: Romans 10:9 I've observed before that one of the areas where I feel most

There's a subtle lie that songwriters tell you, and it comes in the form of songs that tell you that you might be beaten down and defeated now but one

There's a subtle lie that songwriters tell you, and it comes in the form of songs that tell you that you might be beaten down and defeated now but one day you will rise. The lie is not in what the songs say but in the tone. It's a hope,

It's easy and not necessarily helpful to talk about eras of Mountain Goats songs. Certainly it's clear that songs with the mechanical groan of a tape recorder belong to a

It's easy and not necessarily helpful to talk about eras of Mountain Goats songs. Certainly it's clear that songs with the mechanical groan of a tape recorder belong to a particular period -unless they don't - but other indicators are vaguer. There's several albums where the songs become much more

Guys, it's fucking hot. Not just July hot, but the continuation and worsening of a literal month long heatwave. Today's been worse than it's been the last week, and we've

Guys, it's fucking hot. Not just July hot, but the continuation and worsening of a literal month long heatwave. Today's been worse than it's been the last week, and we've been huddling behind fans and air conditioners. We don't have proper AC in England, our buildings aren't built for it.

Sometimes all you need is a pastoral about an imaginary cult. A quiet idyll about the charismatic movement when it's become less charismatic, when you're not even desperate to get

Sometimes all you need is a pastoral about an imaginary cult. A quiet idyll about the charismatic movement when it's become less charismatic, when you're not even desperate to get away, it's just a minor irritation of your day. That's in a sense when a cult really dies, isn't it?

It's appropriate to have a song that sounds like it's been unearthed, from a band that John was in rather than strictly speaking the Mountain Goats, about a Weekly World

It's appropriate to have a song that sounds like it's been unearthed, from a band that John was in rather than strictly speaking the Mountain Goats, about a Weekly World News story of a man discovering Goliath's skull. The This Year notes even give us a pretty good idea of

One of the joys of the Mountain Goats, especially in their collaborations, is their ability to write songs about things nobody has covered before. There's so many songs that everyone's

One of the joys of the Mountain Goats, especially in their collaborations, is their ability to write songs about things nobody has covered before. There's so many songs that everyone's done. But which other band is going to give you an inside look on the ennui suffered by the workers

I realised I was a day ahead just after listening to this, but I figured I'd comment on it anyway. This is (in a complimentary way) simultaneously the most Nick

I realised I was a day ahead just after listening to this, but I figured I'd comment on it anyway. This is (in a complimentary way) simultaneously the most Nick Drake and the most Smashing Pumpkins I've heard Mountain Goats sound. This is a sing that makes sense in the

There's something oppressive about this one, a feeling like the instruments are too loud and too close and too much. It fits the subject matter incredibly well. And also means

There's something oppressive about this one, a feeling like the instruments are too loud and too close and too much. It fits the subject matter incredibly well. And also means that this is a hard one to write about. It's been a lot of week, and I need the music

An unexpected voice on this one. I haven't heard Kaki King before, and that's fairly obviously an oversight and one I'll have to correct. This, to me, is a song

An unexpected voice on this one. I haven't heard Kaki King before, and that's fairly obviously an oversight and one I'll have to correct. This, to me, is a song about the wrong kind of peace. The sort that's a respite between moments of pain, not an end to pain.

Back to heresy again for a while. What's interesting is that if you'd played this song to me without me seeing the cover and asked me to guess what album

Back to heresy again for a while. What's interesting is that if you'd played this song to me without me seeing the cover and asked me to guess what album it was from, I would definitely have guessed The Sunset Tree. It has that album's sense of yearning, of need.

Sometimes John Darnielle's songs are complex and multilayered, sometime beautiful in their simplicity. This is a sing about what it must feel like for Toad when mario shows up and

Sometimes John Darnielle's songs are complex and multilayered, sometime beautiful in their simplicity. This is a sing about what it must feel like for Toad when mario shows up and kicks ass, what else is there to say?

Most of the songs in This Year are Mountain Goats alone, or something calling itself Mountain Goats when it's John and miscellaneous other people. There aren't many (although there's a

Most of the songs in This Year are Mountain Goats alone, or something calling itself Mountain Goats when it's John and miscellaneous other people. There aren't many (although there's a couple) that are full collaborations. The first thing to note about this song is how fucking great the guitar is.

It's tough to know where to start with this song. It's one you feel more than hear, and one you experience emotionally. I get hit by a wave of sad

It's tough to know where to start with this song. It's one you feel more than hear, and one you experience emotionally. I get hit by a wave of sad and happy nostalgia when I hear it, as if something had happened and it was right that it had happened,