I was a bit apprehensive to embracing the new Mountain Goats song the first time I heard it. "Cry for Judas" off their upcoming new album Transcendental Youth is almost shocking the first time you hear it. It has the band's best production to date, blaring horns, and most striking, a what appears to be happy feel to the whole song. However, cut a little deeper and you begin to realize all of that is just a cover for the darkness lurking underneath. It's a song about the mistakes one makes, and the way they can misrepresent you and engulf your life. The refrain is "I am still here/But all is lost" for crying out loud. So the horn riffs and springy bass lines aren't there to make the song joyful, but to keep the song afloat from collapsing into its own despair. And it works so well. It's a defeatist anthem, but an anthem none the less, and one that will be be shouted at John Darnielle to play for years to come.
Links:
The Mountain Goats' Website
Pre-order Transcendental Youth here, from Merge Records
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