Hard Like Algebra

How can I explain away
Something that I haven’t done
And if you can’t trust me now
You’ll never trust in anyone
–Sugar, “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”

Typical review: witty summary, narrow it down, pick out a few songs, wrap it up in a nice bow.

Not this time. This time, the lyrics first. The above lyrics occur at a point in the song when you’d guess maybe Mould will drop the chorus another time, maybe repeat a verse or some other time-honored/slightly lazy trick, it’ll end, and it’ll be pretty good. But then! A curve ball near-ending–a verse that comes in at a time when you’re like, “man, how could any song be this great?”–and we’re off.

“How can I explain away/Something that I haven’t done?” Chills.

“And if you can’t trust me now/You’ll never trust in anyone.”

Does he have you yet?

There’s a point in every (failed?) relationship when things have been said that you didn’t want to say, or things have been done you’ve moved beyond regretting–things you wish you wouldn’t have had the capacity to do. So often in rock songwriting, we get the perspective of the jilted whatever, or the angry ex, or the “take me back/please come back” plea.

But how often is there complication? How often do we see “With all the crazy doubts you’ve got/I love you even still?” This song is chilling partly because it’s unique. It takes the specificity of “you will find a different person if you change your mind,” throws that awesome 90’s Moüld guitar sound behind it, and builds the perfect three minute pop song.

If I can’t change your mind then no one will.

The Video, on Youtube
Bob Mould
Sugar, on Wikipedia
Sugar – If I Can’t Change Your Mind

****

I’ve got about 9000 songs in iTunes, and about ten of them have made the “Perfect” playlist.

This is one of them.

The new Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride, drops (as the kids say)(if their slang lags behind) shortly after my thirtieth birthday, and right after that the boys will be playing two shows at the best venue in the world.

If “Sax Rohmer #1,” the leadoff single that the Goats made available for download recently, indicates anything (and let’s face it–of course it does; main Goat Darnielle’s own music fan/thinker status doesn’t make me feel like he’s the kind of guy to decide such a thing lightly), this album will be exactly what I’ve been waiting for.

As albums go, 2006’s Get Lonely was a red wine-buzz of a good one: creeping up, spreading fuzzily, a bit warm and with a little bit of “what did I do to myself?” later on. It wasn’t–and isn’t–an easy listen, quiet where we were used to Darnielle roaring. Perhaps that was the biggest strength of an album made up of things left unsaid.

This new track, though, seems likely to break at any moment into the “hungry for love–ready to drown” chorus from “Linda Blair Was Born Innocent” off of We Shall All Be Healed. It’s similar in cadence, and his “shouty” register has returned. More than that, you can visualize the visceral Darnielle honing in here, stomping around, ranting these lyrics, playing his demons to the crowd (though I imagine he’d bristle at the assumptive narrator/performer conflation I did there), and truly fucking bringing it.

And that’s what we want our music to do, isn’t it? Don’t just amuse me, don’t confuse me, don’t berate me, don’t show off your wizardry or vocabulary–or at least, if you are doing these things, you better be sure you’re fucking bringing it, too. It’s a fine line, and a powerful one, because your audience will love you forever if you succeed–and that’s why this band deserves attention.

What an amazing birthday present this album, and tour, will be.

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(audio included because this track is already freely available)

****

Mountain Goats Tour Dates
4AD’s Heretic Pride page: February 18th release
My Mountain Goats Feature, March 2007, Portland Mercury
themountaingoats.net