Rating:   7 Ratings     12345  

The Mountain Goats We Shall All Be Healed

      I like the disc…but after checking it out and some previous work, I just wouldn’t say it’s one of the best bands that came out of the late ‘90’s. Musically, from what I heard, We Shall All Be Healed is pretty similar to previous albums. The main difference between this and what John Darnielle previously released is that most of his songs up until this album were fictional, however all of the songs here are based on people he used to know. I think that’s not only interesting, but pretty damn funny considering he’s got lines like “I dreamt of a house haunted by all you tweakers with your hands out." The somewhat biographical lyrics not only let you in on a little bit of John Darnielle’s history – a history I’m fascinated with after reading some thought-provoking interviews with the guy (a guy who seems extremely intelligent) – but contain a lot of statements and sentiments on modern culture. The album starts with the lines “making the signals so it’s totally unreadable, drinking the dregs, eating the utterly inedible,” lines somewhat open to interpretation, and thus setting the cryptic tone for the album. But lines that also have something very real to say about the sentiments of our generation, one lost in technological ease, lines that drift afloat of a growing sea lost feelings. The first time this idea was crystallized, for me, was in John Irving’s A Son of the Circus, about a man travelling among too many cultures and lifestyles to feel like he belongs anywhere. And it’s a sentiment increasingly more frequently popping up in books, movies, and music alike. These lines then continue to express a growing feeling of unsatisfaction. He follows up with “ready for the future, ready for the world about to come…we are sleek and beautiful, we are cursed,” perhaps commenting on our brave new world and maybe implying we’re getting ahead of ourselves in the next lyrics “shooting the sequel before the treatment’s even finished.” What’s best is that he generally expresses these sentiments without being whiny or preachy about it, mainly with nervous yet tender observance. Although too often Darnielle sometimes swings from observing to being just plain over-dramatic when he blurts out lines like “when we walk out in the sunlight we tell everyone we know it hurts our eyes but the real reason we don’t like it is because it makes us feel like we’re DY-IIING.”

      Oh yeah, did I mention the blurting? It’s not really fair to say he blurts out that line, because he actually blurts out many lines. And did I also mention that that last line I quoted, the fairly long one, was sung in like four beats? That’s was makes my listening to this, despite some strong songwriting and tons of thought-provoking lyrics, sporadic. That very nasal voice singing pretty loudly about everything combined with smooshing WAY too many lyrics in a few spots makes for a unique listen, but also one that I have to be in the mood for. But there are a few songs, like the current college station favorite “Palmcorder Yajna,” that are absolutely filled with charm.

-Jennifer Hall 06/22/04