The Mountain Goats w/ Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards

1245 Chicago Avenue,Evanston IL 60202

25 August, 2021

Description

The Mountain Goats w/ Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards ALL AGES The Mountain Goats Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards The Mountain Goats w/ Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards at SPACE // May 18, 2021 // 8PM At this time, the band has updated their COVID protocol and a negative test will no longer be accepted for entry. All attendees must show proof of full vaccination upon arrival. Originals, photocopies, and digital photos of vaccination documentation are all acceptable. Album highlight “Get Famous” distills the Mountain Goats fervor into a radio-ready pep talk, the concise pop ideal in that trademark rallying cry. But Darnielle’s not the type to wish fame on anyone. Instead, he sings the song’s title as if it were a curse, as Hiss Golden Messenger collaborator Chris Boerner peels off a bronzey guitar lick. Later, despite the insistence on “Tidal Wave” that “even the very proud probably die on their knees,” Hodges’ organ and Douglas’ clarinet produce crystalline towers that reach up to the sun. That still leaves room for esoteric wordplay and lustrous metaphor. “Taste of hot ashes on my tongue all day/ I took my rifle with me to bed/ But I’m getting into knives,” he sings on the title track with an eerie calm, finding intimacy between villain and victim. Even through the prism of direct, unmoored emotion, Darnielle’s songs can be viewed close up without swallowing you whole. Some can be seen from above, heightening their grasp of “non-conventional munitions” and stalked perpetrators. The steely acoustic guitar and counterpoint percussion ring aroundHodges’ organ like a snapshot campfire, while Darnielle threatens murder in the most vague, quiet way possible. “Everything becomes a blur from six feet away,” he sings on “Tidal Wave”. Written years before any concern for social distancing became a constant subject of conversation, the song insists instead that not every wave is a tidal wave. “Some waves are slow things that cover you without you having noticed,” Darnielle explains. But even that bit of grim perspective has its comforts. “With the album, you either slam the door shut or you open on to the next path,”Darnielle avows. “The trick is to sew up an ending, but at the same time open the doors to the theater and let the sunlight in.” Albums like ​Getting Into Knives ​sweep you out that door and away into the center of a vast sea. You may find yourself submerged into inky depths or reaching a purifying breath of air with songs like these. Songs that enlighten despite the inevitability of loss. There are, after all, a number of ways that you can find yourself underwater. ARTIST WEBSITE The Mountain Goats Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards SPACE is a live music hall in Evanston, Ill., established in 2008.