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Album reviews Music

The Mountain Goats

For the Mountain Goats’ new record, prolific songwriter John Darnielle homes in on the world of professional wrestling. This subject matter may have some people turning up their noses, but as Darnielle writes, “Did I steer you wrong with the Bible album [The Light Of The World To Come], even though you may not have been super-into the Bible? Fear not.”

And you should believe him, because as much as Beat The Champ talks about smashing your opponent with a folding chair and dropping in from a steel cage in San Juan, it’s truly about the desire to belong, to be reassured, to understand aging. These themes reveal themselves in a mishmash of styles that feels jarring at times. There’s Darnielle’s bread-and-butter acoustic guitar and piano balladry, and then jazzy melodies and thundering drums that sound like rumbling bodies in a ring. 

The lyrics are the album’s strong suit, and for the first time ever Darnielle will be releasing them with the album, allowing for easy dissection.

Top track: Hair Match

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