the mountain goats

John Darnielle, leader of the ever-shifting lineup of the Mountain Goats, doesn't just sing his songs. He paints them. His guitar is as much a brush as it is a musical instrument. He peppers the lyrics that tell his myriad stories with subtle illustrations of scenery, describing the sweetness of the air and the effects of a sunrise with the vivid detail of a landscape. This background makes his feverish stories of lovers, depression and borderline insanity all the more poignant and realistic.

Unlike the majority of their most recent albums, Heretic Pride lacks a single, binding concept. Instead, Darnielle uses the 13 songs to mine assorted veins of Americana in the same way the Mountain Goats always have. He employs characters, ranging from a pair of young parents to a personification of H.P. Lovecraft's xenophobia, that are some of the most in-depth of any in modern music. In addition to the acoustic guitar, a staple in the band's historically sparse compositions, Darnielle employs a wealth of strings and a dynamic rhythm section. While the instrumentation itself is rarely the focus of these songs, it is never anything less than commendable, and the electric guitars of "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" as well as the martial beat of "Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1" highlight Heretic Pride.

"Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1," which Darnielle wrote in his self-described "cave-like office" in his home in Durham, is phenomenal. It tells the tale of a mariner returning home that sounds as if it is coming straight from the lips of Odysseus. Darnielle's passionate vocals are stirring, and the chorus reaches a level of ferocity that could only come from a desperate man. "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" is a perfect example of the insanity that seems to be bubbling just under the surface in many of the album's other songs.

The alienation and fear of its protagonist is palpable. Nonetheless, this anguish in its many forms is a common thread to the beautifully and painfully realistic vignettes that make up Darnielle's great new album.