Album Review

The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride

• 11th Feb 2008

Opening with a rousing and accessible Jeffrey Lewis (who’s kindly contributed some of the marvellous trademark artwork here too) like track that’s filled with exasperation and great, almost Celtic vocals, The Mountain Goats (TMG) certainly get off to a great start on this, their latest 2008 LP ‘Heretic Pride’.

And thankfully, the LP maintains its high calibre musicianship throughout each and every last tale of pity sex, Prince Far I, surreal cults and horror movies to name but a few. So if sublime music and lyrics do it for you, check this out! Emotive orchestrations take us on into the belly of the beast and its many ear opening moments, be they dark and sinister, high pitch, alarming and erratic or calm smooth and casual.

It’s downfall? Its sound can get a little monotonous, though the lyrical content and musical majesty distract wonderfully from its unchanging, underpinning tone that could’ve surely benefitted from some of those dimension adding lady backing vocals found on track 11. That said; there are some vocal moments that hold an almost comic element within their delivery, which also help to perk up the undeniably powerful and punchy proceedings.

All in all, TMG have, as they always have, got it going on!