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Second in a series of three compilations of increasingly rare and difficult-to-track-down Mountain Goats songs that first saw the light of day on a blur of 7" EPs, cassettes, and compilation/fanzine appearances during the 1990s. This 27-track volume (known in our circles as "Da Bomb") includes a huge swath of hooky, funny and poignant 'Goats-isms, incorporating several individual releases that stand out like Paul Bunyan among the myriad generic indie-rock releases from the same era. These songs were almost all recorded direct-to-cassette in the classic MG style and even despite the impermanent, flighty nature of the delivery and even some of the subject matter, they are a testament to John Darnielle's uncanny knack for carving out completely memorable 2-minute songs from the barest of ingredients. There are appearances here from the Bright Mountain Choir as well as a liberal dose of bassist/vocalist Rachel Ware, too, before her departure from the band. From Songs for Petronius, the very first Mountain Goats 7" (Shrimper, 1992), there's the perennial favorite "The Bad Doctor" ("and the stars jockeying for position..."), the beautifully defiant "Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catatlina" ("I'm not listening anymore!"), "The Lady from Shanghai"'s quiet giddy-up, and the bells & whistles Casio circus in "Pure Love." All that's missing is the beautiful Juggernaut Press sleeve (but hey, there's a lovely picture of it in the booklet...). Transmissions to Horace is also contained. This is a 10-song album released on cassette only by Peter Hughes on his Sonic Enemy label in 1993, and this release alone, in our humble opinion, justifies the entire Ajax/3 Beads of Sweat Mountain Goats reissue campaign. This was an especially fertile period for John D., as evidenced by "Historiography," "Going to Cleveland," "Alpha Desperation March," "Teenage World," and the humble cover of the Commodores' "Sail On" that actually does the lyrics justice. Plus you now don't have to worry about the tape breaking. Also featured is the very rare (600 copies) Songs for Peter Hughes 7" originally released by the German label Sonic Squid in 1995, created by the John/Rachel lineup and more hi-fi than much of the previous output of theirs. This has a remake of "No, I Can't," the sole recorded appearance of the MGs' notorious cover of Ace of Base's "The Sign" (featured often during live sets of the same era), and a beautiful meditation on life/fame/? in "Song for Dana Plato." And fleshing out the album are a whole bunch of compilation tracks from releases on such labels as the now-defunct Walt label out of New York state; the now-defunct Sing, Eunuchs! label out of Omaha; Germany's Glitterhouse (one of the standout tracks, "Against Agamemnon"); the now-defunct Slowball cassette label out of Sweden (a live version of the *very* bitter "Black Molly"); the now-defunct Union Pole label out of Olympia ("Rain Song," in which John D. rhymes Allen Callaci with "hibachi"); the now-defunct Pottery label out of Swarthmore, PA; and the now-defunct Box Dog Sound out of Seattle (a great vein-popping "Faithless Bacchant Song"). A lot of great songs have been rescued from the dustbin of indie-rock history.
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| Track listing: 1. Noche
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