The Mountain Goats – Sax Rohmer #1

I admit that I’m still struggling somewhat with Heretic Pride, the newest release from The Mountain Goats. There’s nothing wrong with it all, but I’m drawn more toward them when they are focusing on the personal (as the last albums did) rather than the abstract. While they may not have grabbed me in the way that they have previously, some of the songs on it are still pretty damn good. One of them is Sax Rohmer #1. Essentially a pulp novel in song form, we flash through tales of street urchins, sailors and Chinese spies. The second guitar is performed by St. Vincent too, a fact I learnt all of thirty seconds ago.

You can read John Darnielle and Jeffery Lewis’ three page comic book that explains the background of each song on Heretic Pride here.