Mountain Goats

Goths MERGE. CD/DL/LP

John Darnielle gets back in black.

Only two tracks here actually evoke goth gloom. More suggest, surprisingly, McCartney or Bacharach, with Philly soul and Southern horns. (Matt Douglas on woodwinds is an ace addition.) But all the subculture details are lovingly etched: the Batcave club, the spiderweb dance, Siouxsie and Sisters Of Mercy’s Andrew Eldritch. Songwriter Darnielle expertly renders the acute emotions of adopting a new tribe and the resignation that life often forces. Kids try new guises, compare (“I’m hardcore, but I’m not that hardcore”) and compete (“Dave went to New York, I don’t care/You can’t shut people up once they get back from their Christmas out there”). Ultimately, “however big that chorused bass may throb, you and me, and all of us, are going to have to find a job.” That may not be Darnielle’s life, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell.