Three New Songs From The Mountain Goats

Download: The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1" (via Stereogum)
Download: The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn"
Download: The Mountain Goats - "San Bernardino"

Earlier today, Stereogum posted a new Moutain Goats track called "Sax Rohmer #1" from the Goats' upcoming February release Heretic Pride. The song starts with heavily accented eight-note acoustic strumming which is matched precisely by the drums. The song as progresses, the music breathes a little more, though there is still plenty of that fierce John Darnielle vocal delivery that we all know and love--particularly on the lyric "I am coming home to you/with blood in my mouth/I am coming home to you/if it's the last thing I do". All in all, the song definitely bodes well for Pride being a more hopeful contrast to Get Lonely (which wouldn't be hard to do, but still).

Additionally, two more tracks from Heretic Pride have come to light. "Lovecraft In Brooklyn" is a rocker with a frantic, syncopated bass line, electric guitar, organ and violin, all of which help capture the hectic nature of "trying to keep the wolves at bay" and "waking up afraid of my own shadow/like, genuinely afraid". Oh, the danger of big city life.

Secondly, the heartfelt, peaceful strings of "San Bernadino" stand in direct contrast to the chaos of "Lovecraft In Brooklyn." From what I can tell, "San Bernadino" tells the tale of a romantic getaway, perhaps to a bed-and-breakfast. No matter the subject of the song, the warm, intimate nature of "San Bernadino" is what makes the song absolutely fantastic. Once we get our hands on the physical record (that's February 18th, for those of you keeping score), we'll give mad props to whomever arranged the strings.

Here's the cover:



Pre-order Heretic Pride here

Mountain Goats MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef/April Wright)