Hardly a bruise or broken bone may ever get to one of the many famed celebrity “wrestlers” of today; the professional wrestlers whose stories are featured in the Mountain Goats’ newest album, Beat The Champ, are past tenses who kept the shame secret. Because regardless of whether the fights fought were real or not, the theatrics and legends spun in capes and masks managed to at least appear true, and brought a sense of justice to young John Darnielle.
The stories he uses are very interesting ones, and depict the savagery portrayed on and off the rings. The first single and stand out song, “The Legend of Chavo Guerrero”, is a perfect Mountain Goats song; catchy melody, upbeat and comfortable for the average listener who may find Darnielle’s vocals too nasally, even sticking a minor jab at his late stepfather widely written about on the band’s most accessible LP, Sunset Tree.
Sometimes the stories may be generalizations, such as the very nostalgic opener, “Southwestern Territory”. “Territory” sets a particularly moody atmosphere, dragging the listener to a slowed down unraveling of wrestling matches and the narrator himself describes how he’s forgotten some of the past with “I try to remember what life was like long ago / But it’s gone, you know”.
Although some of the stories are astounding, the music doesn’t always come across as very appealing. Looking at the career of the Mountain Goats, it is amazing how the production has changed over the years. Take the song “Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan”. I really wanted to like the track, as it details the murder of King Kong Bruise Brody in one of the most lyrically devastating pieces Darnielle has written. It characterizes the frenzy, and how maddening the murder really was with “When the blade hits the bone, everybody hears it sing / Shower room full of people, no one hears a […] thing”. Yet musically, it is simply lacking. Well thought out but the violins screeching don’t make me want to listen to it again.
Beat The Champ stands as a good contender but ultimately leaves the ring with black eyes. A solid effort with songs certainly standing to showcase Darnielle’s amazing range of lyrics, with funny songs like “Foreign Object” or slower and precisely tuned “Heel Turn 2”, while showing a subdued and well-arranged texture of accompanied sounds. Like most Mountain Goats albums, you come more for the lyrics, the poetry that Darnielle is able to craft at a very rapid pace.
7/10
Anthony Campbell // A&E Editor
