I Hope We Both Die: Dueling Reviews

Squaregirl Rachel and I went on a Squaregirl date to the first of two consecutive Mountain Goats show at the Troubadour on Tuesday. This was a very exciting day for me, as I had yet to see them live. I know a few people who raved about their shows and another two plebeians that I’m not talking to anymore tell me that they weren’t good live, so I was pretty curious to see if they could compare to my imagination. We showed up a song or two into the opener Jeff Smith’s (?) Jones(?)** act. Though sort of schtick-y, he was pretty amusing, singing stream of consciousness yarns in front of projections of drawings he had done himself. I’d see him again.



Next, The Mountains Goats. In high school we called my younger brother The Minstrel. Our house carried sound really well, and you’d hear the first few strums wafting down the hall, like a harbinger. A few seconds later, he’d wander while playing his guitar and pretend to be really surprised. “Oh! I didn’t realize anyone was in here!” he’d exclaim, and then continue to play his guitar like no one was there, shuffling around the living room. He’d do these little jigs and mosey around and sing with a really animated face. Watching John Darnielle is sort of like that. “Oh! An audience. Well, I have my guitar, so… Ok. Doo doo doo. I’ll play whatever you want! Except No Children, even though that’s the only thing you guys are yelling out for. Come back tomorrow. Doo. Doo. Have you ever noticed how much I sound like Mitch Hedburg? Well, I do!”



My one complaint about the show was the abuse of encores. I don’t like encores, and two is excessive. It’s like the people who dress in head to toe green on St. Patrick’s Day. Just put on your green shirt and be done with it. That said, I truly enjoyed the show. I really respect that Darnielle appears unafraid of the unflattering poses and awkward faces musicians tend to make when losing themselves in a song. It’s that sort of worrying that will get in the way of the stage presence of otherwise talented bands. So he embraces that crazy look in his eyes, because he knows we don’t care what he looks like, we’re all in love with him anyway, all of us knowing secretly that we are the person who gets this song he’s singing more than anyone else in this room.

~sqg eliza

** Ed. Note: It was Jeffrey Lewis & the Jitters. I really wanted to catch them at the Wednesday night show, but missed it. Damn flu! They had set off my twee-dar earlier in the week when I noticed they were appearing on a radio show that I know and love called 5...4...3...2...Fun!!!. I bought one of their cds out of a healthy mix of curiosity and guilt. Not twee so much, but lovable just the same. Sqg Eliza was totally right about the stream of consciousness yarns, I'm truly bummed that I missed hearing them with projections behind them. Still, lo-fi stream of consciousness guitar pop that sounds like it would be right at home in the K Records catalogue (though the Jeffrey Lewis cd I picked up actually resides in the Rough Trade shop) is one of my biggest weaknesses so I'm glad I at least got a cd. Expect to hear way more about him the next time he's in town! **

I Could Almost Hear the Rhythm Section Kick In as the Sun Began to Blaze

I'm generally not a fan of going out when I have the flu. Oh but the Mountain Goats, the Mountain Goats are a band that defy all things general. Since my first Mountain Goats show in 2005 I've made it to at least one of any given series of shows that they performed in whatever town I am in. Not attending at least one of the two sold out shows they played at the Troubadour would have felt unnatural and wrong. I'm tremendously glad that I defied my body's urge for me to collapse into bed for twelve more hours of sleep, and instead threw a thick scarf around my neck and went to this show. That being said, it wasn't the best Mountain Goats show I've ever seen. In all fairness though, that honor belongs to last year's show at the El Rey where we heard "See America Right," "Going to Georgia" (!) and was my first introduction to the new touring Mountain Goats line-up that saw the addition of John Wurster on drums to the already solid line-up of Peter Hughes on bass, and the man who writes those bafflingly brilliant lyrics John Darnielle. If all of those years of air drumming to "Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything?" (from Superchunk's classic album Foolish) hadn't quite cemented John Wurster as my favorite modern rock drummer, that show certainly did. Oddly enough this was mostly due to his treatment of my favorite song from 2005's The Sunset Tree "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?" The song is slow, heartbreaking, and perfectly effective with just a guitar. With drums it achieved something else entirely. I'm not sure what, but it left an impression, and I hope to hear it again someday.

Back to Wednesday night's show at the Troubadour. They played a good number of songs from the new album Heretic Pride which I still haven't absorbed. "So Desperate" appears to be a new fan favorite. The story of a couple in a car, their only neutral meeting place, a fair amount of self hatred between the two of them, not wanting to let go of each other. In other words, the kind of story that Darnielle writes best. The band were clearly enjoying themselves throughout the evening, and the crowd was certainly feeding off of it, and getting really into it (dancing, fist pumping etc.) I found this happen to me a few times, and it's hard to not go with the energy of the crowd and the band on stage fully rocking out. Though when you pause to remember that these songs are mostly about abuse, and addiction (and other such fun dance party themes) it kind of makes your own enthusiasm seem strange and your smile quickly turn to one of discomfort. However, in an odd way this level of immersing yourself in the song seems to be an almost perfectly natural reaction. Is it strange to find yourself in a group sing along of the rousing chorus to "No Children," "And I hope you die! I hope we both die!"? Sure, but also cathartic and it gives you an alarming sense of community.

These are songs that demand some sort of visceral reaction. If nothing else, clearly these demands were met.


You can purchase Heretic Pride here.


~sqg marion

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for sqg eliza's review of Tuesday night's show as well!