Before we start this news item, covering the Mountain Goats new record Beat the Champ out April 7 (April 13 in Europe) through Merge Records, let me give you some advice. If you’re here on the internet (which you are), there is nothing better you can do than look up animated GIFs of WWE owner Vince McMahon. Here, I’ll help you out:
Now that you have spent at least 40 minutes in ecstasy, let’s move on to the story.
Beat the Champ is the Mountain Goats’ first album since 2012’s Transcendental Youth, breaking in half the longest stretch between albums in the group’s history. As the title suggests, the record is a collection of songs about pro wrestling, a longtime love of Mountain Goats core member John Darnielle. “I wrote these songs to re-immerse myself in the blood and fire of the visions that spoke to me as a child, and to see what more there might be in them now that I’m grown,” said Darnielle.
First single “The Legend of Chavo Guerrero” can be heard below. The track covers Darnielle’s childhood fandom of wrestler Chavo Guerrero, while seemingly also touching on the stepfather relationship explored in the Goats’ classic LP The Sunset Tree. As of now, no tracklist has been announced for Beat the Champ, but one writer (this writer) hopes for a track examining the man’s man, Steven Regal.
Theoretically, you can pre-order Beat the Champ on CD, double LP, and deluxe double LP at the Merge website. As of this writing, demand for a Mountain Goats album possibly containing a song about the time Sting wore a mask of his own face has overwhelmed the Merge website. By now, this has probably been fixed, allowing interested parties to buy the deluxe LP pressed on gold and green vinyl that also includes a red 12-inch featuring non-album track “Blood Capsules” with a dub version on the B-side.
Much like the touring WWE house shows, The Mountain Goats are playing a series of dates beginning in April. If they aren’t playing your city, there is an open invitation for anyone to come to my house April 7. We’ll be seeing if Beat the Champ syncs up with The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown.
Mountain Goats dates:
04.02.15 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
04.03.15 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
04.04.15 - Savannah, GA - The Jinx (Savannah Stopover Music Festival)
04.07.15 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
04.08.15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
04.09.15 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
04.11.15 - New York, NY - City Winery
04.12.15 - New York, NY - City Winery
04.13.15 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
04.14.15 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
04.16.15 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart’s
04.17.15 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
04.18.15 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
04.19.15 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
04.21.15 - Louisville, KY - Headliners
04.22.15 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
04.23.15 - Millvale, PA - Mr. Smalls Theatre
05.08-10.15 - Atlanta, GA - Shaky Knees Music Festival
05.26.15 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theatre
05.27.15 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
05.29.15 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
05.30.15 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
06.01.15 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
06.03.15 - Los Angeles, CA - Mayan Theater
• The Mountain Goats: http://www.mountain-goats.com
• Merge: http://www.mergerecords.com
More about: The Mountain Goats
