To say that John Darnielle has come a long way is an understatement on par with calling the Second World War a kerfuffle. Always constant, however, has been his songwriting acumen. From his early bedroom sketches to his current run to include Heretic Pride, Darnielle's songwriting has been among the best of his generation. He joins Colin Meloy, Sufjan Stevens and Jeff Mangum on the very highest tier of modern lyricists and at times, his songs have become almost sentient, self-perpetuating their own "Alpha" and "Going to..." series (which sadly gain no new chapters on Heretic Pride).
Dating to 2002 or so, Darnielle has allowed the music to gain ground on the words. Happily, Heretic Pride marks the first occasion when the notes have gotten close to the impact of the letters. Darnielle called upon his largest yet cast of contributors to flesh out his compositions with an array of voices, a large quantity of strings, and something approaching a full rock band. Enlisting many friends, not the least of which was John Vanderslice, certainly has the impact of making The Mountain Goats a visceral and not merely a cerebral experience.
Combining John Darnielle's lyrical acumen (and limited recording expertise) with John Vanderslice's skills behind the boards (and especially weak songwriting) seems like the ultimate indie coup, on the surface. And while Heretic Pride is an obvious improvement over the last two albums the two Johns have forged together, the creative distance between the two is manifest.
Truly great producers are those with full control over the performers in question and from the album promo material (http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/Mt-Goats-Press-Kit-08.html), it seems like Darnielle simply outsourced work outside of writin', singin', and strummin' to Vanderslice and the album's other contributors. While V need not be Phil Spector to D's Ronnie, a somewhat closer creative relationship would seem to work better. The instrumentation on this album rarely does more than simply accent the lyrics and often fails at even that, instead drowning out the message with little thought to harmony. Omnipresent pizzicato strings and ham-fisted alt-rock drums (did Dave Grohl play on this?) are distracting in their awkwardness.
Where Heretic Pride excels is when Darnielle comes through clearest and the production is merely competent. Still, from vibrant characters in equally vibrant settings like the expectant parents in "San Bernardino" or the title character of "Lovecraft in Brooklyn", John Darnielle is at the top of his game. If only his sublime songwriting could be paired with equally exultant music. Even gloomsters The National brought on Sufjan Stevens for Boxer. I'm just saying.
8.2/10.0
-RJR
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