#john wurster

[unloneliest]

i feel like mountain goats tumblr is connected enough and niche enough a community we could make a decision en masse about a back-up place to have community—i'm not jumping ship, i'll be on tumblr until it's fully deleted, but i'd like to have a failsafe for when it does eventually die.

what options are there out there? is anyone else interested? are there older, inactive blogs on here people would want to archive somehow before this website goes under? is there a way of doing so in an organized fashion?

what do you all see as the central pieces of tmg posting? what format of posts or types of sharing and discussion and joking and sillyness and creation of art are priorities when u think about making community with other fans?

please, please treat this post as a discussion even if we don't know each other. tmg tumblr is very dear to my heart. let's stick together.

[karmicbias]

Just in case the handful of y'all out there were wondering, I'm also Extremely Normal about bands other than Ghost.

Went to the Mountain Goats last night at Wolf Trap and I don't think I've ever seen John Darnielle so absolutely ecstatic to perform. What joy. What energy. I came to the show with my best friends, who also happen to be my ex (who got me into the band in the first place) and his partner (who was attending her first tmg show).

He and I sang the entire last quarter of the set together. Hugged during No Children because we survived our breakup and still love each other. Held his partner's hand during Up the Wolves because she was transfixed and sobbing. Put my arm around his shoulders during Heel Turn 2 because he was getting emotional, too.

It's a good weird life sometimes, if you are lucky enough to find your people.

[men-who-meow]

there are a thousand songs about love and heartbreak but only one about the best ever death metal band in denton

[yourfavealbumisgender]

Beat The Champ by The Mountain Goats is Butch!

requested by anon

[goingtothebes]

[dustedmagazine]

The Mountain Goats — Jenny from Thebes (Merge)

Like many established artists, the Mountain Goats suffer from preconceived notions about their work. Grow popular enough or stick around long enough and, welp, suddenly you’re the villain. Whether the fans get in the way of enjoying the art, or the artist themself is simply too precious to be tolerated, there are any number of reasons one might avoid their work. Or maybe there’s just so many albums that you don’t know where to begin. Maybe you’re suffering from an oeuvre-dose?

Jenny from Thebes is a sequel to the Mountain Goats landmark All Hail West Texas. Jenny, who we first meet on that album, and who has been a recurring character in Darnielle’s work, returns. While Jenny from Thebes is a self-proclaimed rock opera, it defies the expectations of that genre inasmuch as it’s not a sprawling, self-indulgent double album. Moreover, it stands on its own.

As always, Darnielle can be a bit too expository lyrically. He creates vignettes with each song and sets them within the tableau of the album. What’s especially poignant about this chapter in Jenny’s story is how her home is a shelter for the vulnerable in her orbit. At a time when marginalized communities are under attack with little support from those meant to protect them, a rock opera about mutual aid sends a message that they’re not alone.

Honestly, more artists should record sequels to their earlier work. Unlike what’s happening in relentlessly serialized American cinema, there are characters whose lives we could revisit without veering into Forrest Gump territory. There are themes that evolve meaningfully over time. Dan Bejar did this with “Jackie” and “Jackie (Dressed in Cobras).” Those songs were written just five years apart. They’re excellent! The depth of the Mountain Goats’ body of work —  and their rapt audience — lends itself to this kind of exploration.

Musically, it’s a straightforward indie record with the kind of production we’ve grown accustomed to over the last 20 years. It’s gorgeous. More artists should sound like current-vintage Destroyer and Lambchop. Or, failing that, that one really good Christopher Owens record with the saxophone motif. Horns and strings are good!

With Jenny from Thebes, Darnielle continues to redefine the scope of the Mountain Goats and his evolution as a songwriter and storyteller puts him in rarefied air.

J T. Ramsay

[mr-saavik]

Peter Hughes leaving The Mountain Goats when I have tickets to see him & John Darnielle play a duo show old-school Mountain Goats style is so sad

[tmgimageaday]

Matt Douglas, John Darnielle, Peter Hughes, and Jon Wurster, The Sylvee, 2022

[lennengrad]

had this great pic of john so i decided to fuck around w thé instagram ai backdrop feature 🫡

[blatherin-blatherskite]

The way I’m reminded every so often that Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, Kimya Dawson and John Darnielle once shared a stage

[vernalloy]

I bitch a lot about the school shooter chic line because it’s mean and shit but. He is kind of school shooter chic (insane white boy gender envy)

[karmicbias]

Another fucking amazing Mountain Goats show on the books!

I made and traded pins, sang and screamed and danced and cried.

I met and fist bumped John!

Everything feels right in the energy of that room.

We got a set that feels nearly impossible.

[men-who-meow]

sometimes i still feel the bruise by the mountain goats is just margaritaville for mentally ill queer people

[cryptic-symbols]

what is the mountain goats without peter hughes?

he has shaped the trajectory of the band fundamentally since he joined in the nineties. (or 2002. who knows). he has inspired many songs, he has helped write more, and breathed life into all of them on tour.

what is the mountain goats without peter hughes?

the same band I have always loved.

it was the mountain goats when it was just jd and his panasonic in a california basement. darnielle, douglas, and wurster will be the mountain goats. It will always be the mountain goats until the day john darnielle decides to quit. maybe he’ll be making music until his very last breath.

I am unspeakably sad to see peter hughes go, but I know good things are on the horizon.

[smashorpassgilf]

the band the mountain goats (john darnielle, peter hughes, matt douglas, and john wurster. each member is over the age of 50 and i think it would be funny if they were submitted as a mass entity together.)