The Mountain Goat's All Hail West Texas Turns 20
Getting into the Mountain Goats is not an easy task. The catalog is sprawling and goes back for decades. As of now, if you go back fourteen albums into the career of John Darnielle, you’ll arrive at All Hail West Texas, not his most popular album or the one with the biggest singles, but in my opinion, his opus and career-defining collection of songs. Today, it turns twenty.
If anything, All Hail West Texas made me think, if John can write and record songs directly into a boombox, surely I can too. I, however, was clearly mistaken. The recordings that make up the album seem basic and direct, but the magic in them is apparent and it is what makes this album so transformative and exceptional. It should be easy, but it’s actually a miracle.
The Mountain Goats are in fact a band and John makes this clear whenever it comes into question. There are other folks playing bass, drums, and adding backing vocals and he tours with them as a band. All Hail West Texas, however, is the only album in their discography that features Darnielle alone. Just him, a guitar, and a boombox. That isn’t what makes this such a standout album, but it’s an important part of the story as the album is about survival and we’re hearing it from John all by himself. It’s not autobiographical, but it still feels deeply personal.
All of the songs that appear were written within a single week and were recorded directly to tape only minutes after they were composed. It’s a real, honest record that has the aesthetics of a demo tape, but hits with the same intensity as Nebraska, another solo recording by a band leader at the height of their song-writing powers. What makes it feel most special is how it feels so intimate, almost as if this was a tape made specifically for the person listening. We’re told stories about people who seem as if they could be real and we often wonder if they are, but the truth of the matter isn’t actually important. It’s that these are so vivid and detailed that they could be real and we’re none the wiser either way.
“The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton” kicks things off with an epic tale all told in under three minutes. Actually, every song on the album is under three minutes. Plenty of songs are short, but few contain the layered complexity as these songs and even fewer achieve what they do as a collective. Hearing of Cyrus and Jeff’s goals of world stardom as the leaders of a diabolical metal act sounds almost comedic on paper, but the passion with which John describes the duo ends with the most life affirming chant of “Hail Satan” you’re likely to ever hear and that’s just the beginning.
The album cover tells us the record consists of fourteen songs about seven people, two houses, a motorcycle, and a locked treatment facility for adolescent boys. It sounds like a mouthful and that it has the potential to be a sprawling mess with little cohesion. A smattering of ideas pieced together haphazardly just to have a finished product. Slowly, however, we realize that this is somehow the work of someone so full of ideas, that it seems painful for the person to keep them inside and we should be so lucky that a recording device was in such close proximity that he was able to capture them all with such passion. The closeness of the songs feels remarkable and you’d almost expect to feel the breath of Darnielle coming out of the speakers as you listen. The mic of the boombox picks up so much more information than seems possible and “mixes” it perfectly into an astounding audio achievement.
The production value isn’t the point here, although the DIY-ness of the album certainly lends to its allure. No, it’s all about the messages and the stories of the characters we meet along the way. "When you punish a person for dreaming their dream, don't expect them to thank or forgive you" resonates for eternity and a life lesson that feels crucial beyond the context of a song. “Fault Lines” is another example of the brutalism Darnielle can unleash with his words and it’s another pristine comment on how far we’ll go to cover up our feelings and pretend like things are great when they really seem to be crumbling. “All the fights and the lies that we both love to tell / Fail to send our love to its reward down in hell” - sometimes it’s easier for both parties to go on pretending instead of admitting to the combined, shared failure. Sometimes it’s worth surviving with someone else, even when the road leads to hell, because it’s still better than being alone.
Personally, however, it’s “The Mess Inside” that hits with such pain it’s like getting the wind knocked out of you and expecting to immediately be able to catch your breath. Try as hard as you might to make something work, throw up as many distractions as you’d like, but still you can’t always escape what’s real. You cannot run and you cannot hide. The mess inside will reveal itself. It’s a painful discovery, but sometimes it’s the realization you need in order to move forward.
An album about survival isn’t an easy listen, even when simple recording measures and lo-fi production make it seem a bit easier and inviting. Sometimes being as direct as possible is the way and All Hail West Texas is an absolute triumph in that regard. There is no hiding here, everything is laid out in front of you in simple, honest fashion. There are joys to be found, however. “Jenny” is a delightful, upbeat track about realizing your happiness and embracing the joy. Finding the brightness in a moment and inhaling it for all it’s worth. Pure elation.
The album concludes with the first song written during the week-long marathon of its creation and it ends with hope, something essential in terms of survival. Not every character we meet on this journey finds that fate they desire and that’s the case for everyone we meet in life as well. Still, while the end might be harsh for others, we can still remain blissful and full of wonder. “And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal/ And I, I will bloom here in my room/ With a little water and a little bit of sunlight/ And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy.” Have mercy on yourself, but those you meet along the way as well. You never know who needs it, but sometimes you’re the one who needs it more than others. Get some water, bask in some sun, and show yourself some mercy. Sometimes that’s what you need most to survive.