Now Here We Are Thirty Years Later

Sin as hard as you can. Today's episode is about Shane MacGowan, growing up Catholic in England in the 90s, knocking a few teacups off the shelves, and 'the life of the spirit' in John Darnielle's work from 'Stable Boy Song' to 'Satanic Messiah.' It's 2009, and the song is 'Psalms 40:2.'

Well, they come and pull me from my house. Today’s episode is about ‘Heretic Pride,’ monsters, pagans, ghost cowboys, how a comprehensive knowledge of unreleased Mountain Goats lyrics might come in handy when you least expect it, and a ‘large, eclectic crowd of gay people’ at the City Nightclub in 1986, enjoying ‘the best sound system in Portland & possibly the enti

Max Brod Hate Club. Today’s episode is about ‘From TG&Y,’ 2007, writer’s archives, the Mountain Goats fan forums, copying mean lyrics onto your school planner, and how to move a craftsman bungalow down the Santa Fe railroad in the dead of night.Show notesInterviews:Bill Meyer, ‘Goat Ease,’ Puncture, 1994: http://web.archive.org/web/19990427042719/http://mb1.musicblv

The loneliest people in the whole wide world. Today's episode is about ‘Maybe Sprout Wings,’ Frankie Lymon, the ‘high lonesome sound’ of Appalachian folk music, and a depressive episode at the Trinity LABAN Centre. Show notesInterviews:Tom Lynch, ‘Only the Lonely: Mountain Goats man John Darnielle sings a sad story,’ New City Music, 2006: https://music.newcity.com/2006/

Deep in the dream chamber. Today's episode is about 2005, the year I discovered The Sunset Tree: an album that changed my life. It also takes in Keats, Walter Benjamin, amateur Shakespeare productions in Rutland, and the Venerable Bede.Show notesInterviews:Puncture interview with Bill Meyer, 1994: http://web.archive.org/web/19990427042719/http://mb1.musicblvd.com/cgi-bin/tw/2881458

45 minutes in the pews, praying the Rosary. Today's episode is about 'Against Pollution,' Catholicism, ammonites, and spiritual 2004.Show notesInterviewsCasual Magic podcast interview on John’s Hare Krishna years with Shivam Bhatt: https://casualmagic.libsyn.com/casual-magic-episode-31-mountain-goatsLive showsLive at The 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA, on 2006-08-10: https://archive.or

Where they manufactured what I needed. The show is back with a double episode about 'Palmcorder Yajna,' 'Devil House,' a folder full of MSN Messenger chatlogs two decades old, and the unique awfulness of being 13 and online in West Deeping in 2003. ***Show notesBooksDevil House, by John Darnielle. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022. InterviewsBeliever interview with Daniel Handler, 20

Oh Christ, it's those awful Alpha people again. The final instalment in this season is a double episode on 'No Children,' taking in the Offspring, the difference between a divorce and burning a house down, and the things we can't let go of until they let go of us. Show notes06/22/13 Live show at Bottletree in Birmingham, AL, with banter leading up to ‘Alpha Chum Gatherer’: http

I want to go home, but I am home. Today's episode is about 2001, and the song 'Riches and Wonders.' It looks at millennial housing insecurity, playground insults, bad landlords, and the predations of the Colo mice.Show notes06-17-2007 Zoop live set, featuring ‘Cobscook Bay’ and ‘Leaving Home’: https://archive.org/details/tmg2007-06-17.Zoop 09-08-2021 City Winery, NYC live b

I put the pieces all together, but I don't know what they mean. It's the year 2000, I'm writing mean things about my classmates in a homemade newspaper, and you're falling off that cliff somewhere in California, which I've never seen. Today's episode looks at 'Cobscook Bay,' Robert Aickman, and Rozz Williams, and has a content note for suicidal ideation. Show notesJohn’s introduc