Goths

"John Darnielle's latest is a richly detailed collection of songs about the beautiful melancholy life of a goth, and the long journey between life in the dark and death in the light".

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"John Darnielle took his sweet time to clamber up through the US lo-fi underground (with myriad cottage label releases), before an extended stint at 4AD. Throughout that quarter century, the mission has remained essentially unchanged: Darnielle specialises in esoteric, highly personal songwriting.Darnielle's band now record in Nashville, deploying rather more than his boombox. Their recent albums have often been themed, hence the title. Still, it couldn't be mistaken for a Sisters compilation. Instead, it's jazzy and humorous (with the usual underlying melancholy). The band are goofing off a little here, referencing goth in-jokes on titles such as Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back To Leeds and For The Portuguese Goth Metal Bands. Namechecks go to the likes of The Cure and Gene Loves Jezebel, and Darnielle archly professes to a "high unicorn tolerance". Darnielle's muse is so individual that he suited his 90s incarnation, in which he often sounded like he was hiding in acupboard.This one's (ironically) lighter than others (almost coming over like a US Half Man Half Biscuit, with all the knowing winks). His voice remains distinctive though, and like all his records, Goths is worth hearing".

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"The New Yorker once called the Mountain Goats' frontman John Darnielle "America's best non-hip-hop lyricist". Here, the 50-year-old sometime novelist is in masterly form, reappraising his teenage goth years. The hints of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds in opener Rain in Soho aside, piano, woozy sax and sumptuous Prefab Sprout AOR combine with lyrics about Portuguese goth metal, an unlikely juxtaposition that emphasises the songs' mix of wry insight and black humour. Darnielle is at his most beautifully evocative ("Outside it's 92 degrees and KROQ plays Siouxsie and the Banshees ... ") in Stench of the Unburied. There are plenty of chuckles ("Red Lorry Yellow Lorry were on Cherry Red I think / They've been playing clubs since 1981"), but the New Order-ish Shelved is as great as anything Darnielle has written. At heart, there's touching affection for forgotten bands such as Gene Loves Jezebel, those who cling on to their dreams, and an emotional wallop in how the supposed follies ofouryouth can bring lifelong riches".

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