MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
Album reviews
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MEHDI ACHOUCHE explores the constant fascination of cinema with Marxist alienation from Fritz Lang and Chaplin to Bong Joon Ho
FIONA O’CONNOR steps warily through a novel that skewers many of the exposed flanks of the over-privileged
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
The Mountain Goats
Dark In Here
(Merge Records)
⭑⭑⭑
IT TURNS out that immediately after recording their superb 2020 album Getting Into Knives in Memphis, US indie outfit The Mountain Goats shifted to Muscle Shoals in Alabama to make the impressive Dark In Here.
This shouldn’t be surprising — the band is led by prolific singer-songwriter John Darnielle, who has nurtured a dedicated fan base by releasing literate and distinctive records since the early 1990s.
Bassist Peter Hughes describes the two albums as yin and yang, with Dark In Here more downbeat, quieter and intense. The Slow Parts On Death Metal Albums is an expansive autobiographical track about going to metal shows in the late 1980s, while Arguing With The Ghost Of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review — Darnielle picks some brilliant and very long song titles — is a tribute to the late, great David Berman.
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