Getting Into Knives
| The Mountain Goats
Getting Into Knives
Getting Into Knives is the nineteenth studio album by indie folkband the Mountain Goats, released on October 23, 2020, through Merge Records. The album was recorded in March 2020 over six days at Sam Philips Recording in Memphis, in the same room where psychobilly band the Cramps tracked their 1980 debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us. Getting Into Knives was produced, engineered, and mixed by Matt Ross-Spang, who previously engineered In League with Dragons (2019). In addition to being available on streaming and download services, the album also saw physical release on CD, vinyl, and cassette. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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All Music
Getting into Knives reminds us he's at the peak of his abilities in the art of record-making, and reminds us it's possible for a band to be brilliant without a shred of arrogance.
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Pitchfork
Recorded in Memphis before lockdown, the Mountain Goats’ second album of 2020 is lush and loose, full of stories about personal fulfillment, in whatever form it takes.
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The Alternative
For a group with an extensive back catalog, but a recent string of solid-if-unmemorable releases, it’s inspiring to watch them finally produce another truly great one.
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American Songwriter
Mountain Goats ‘Getting into Knives’ Is Their Most Sharply Focused Effort Yet.
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Paste Magazine
Getting Into Knives summons such voices, inviting us to hold them at a creative angle whereby we can listen to them and manage them without drowning completely. It’s a healing exercise.
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Louder Than War
Most bands would labour for weeks to produce something this good, but the brevity of the process, and the historic surroundings allowed the Mountain Goats to produce something their most famous fan, American TV host Stephen Colbert, will no doubt love as much as their other hardcore fans. Getting Into Knives might also bring a new audience to the warmth of their playing and writing.
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PopMatters
The result is the Mountain Goats' best album in years, one that's more accessible than 2017's downtrodden Goths and more varied and energetic than 2019's In League with Dragons.
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mxdwn Music
Getting Into Knives is an indie folk fairytale sparked by the recent health-related events of the year. Whether listeners were getting into a new Netflix show or hobby (one that may or may not include knives) during their quarantine, Getting Into Knives is definitely worth a listen.
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Slant Magazine
The Mountain Goats’s Getting Into Knives Is Overproduced and Under-Thought.
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XS Noize
Getting into Knives is the third LP this California formed band has released since 2019 (and the second this year); this latest offering, is extra special in many ways.
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Spectrum Culture
Rather than attempting to re-create his glory days, John Darnielle revisits and enriches them by looking at things in a new way.
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The Fire Note
With Getting Into Knives, Darnielle’s Mountain Goats sound as strong as they ever have on record, while his songs continue to deliver smart, incisive commentary on the lofty hopes and dreams that inform the daily grind of existence. If these guys aren’t careful, they might actually lose their singular status for a modest, but deeply committed, “cult” following. Getting Into Knives is that good, that smart, and that entertaining.
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Little Village Magazine
Getting into knives is a hell of a lot easier than getting out of them.
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The Wee Review
A wonderfully varied and textured odyssey.
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Tastemakers Magazine
While Darnielle’s penchant for quirky lyrics and unique instrumentation is no doubt present on this record, the lackluster and now-repetitive songwriting and overbearing accompaniments is immensely disappointing to both new listeners and fans of The Mountain Goats, who may have been expecting a fresher sound.
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New Noise Magazine
The Mountain Goats have a lot to offer. Darinelle easily produces some of the best storytelling songs I’ve ever heard; however, he doesn’t match his vocals to the talent of these lyrics, resulting in both songs that never quite find their way to their hook and an overall uneven album.
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Under the Radar Magazine
The album ultimately proves to be a rewarding listen with its moments of lyrical heft and genuine instrumental beauty while the full band format provides some particularly deft backing to Darnielle’s lyrical eccentricities.
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The Student Playlist
On ‘Getting Into Knives’, the 19th Mountain Goats album, John Darnielle keeps his songwriting arsenal sharpened.
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No Ripcord
Given the year we’ve been through, it’s hard not to treat Getting Into Knives as a welcomed breather. Scattered throughout are moments of small yet effective reassurances like on Tidal Wave: “Not everything’s a tidal wave." Sure, there are things to be genuinely concerned about (especially this year), but not everything is so dire.
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Northern Transmissions
There aren’t many things anymore that are consistent so it is truly nice to have The Mountain Goats remind us that even in our darkest days they will be there with a soft touch, warm shoulder and hearty laugh for us to lean into.
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For Folk's Sake
Darnielle, Peter Hughes, Jon Wurster, and Matt Douglas are musician’s musicians; long may their recording consistency continue even in these uncertain times.
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musicOMH
We need art and we need music, and we need songs that reconnect us with our lost nights. With Getting Into Knives, The Mountain Goats provide us with a smorgasbord of robbed emotions and new, neon-backdropped friends – and we need it more now than ever.
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Thank Folk For That
Despite one or two mis-steps then, album nineteen simply reconfirms that Darnielle and co have a knack for reinvention that retains enough of what we loved about them in the first place to make the reunion a thoroughly satisfying experience.
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Flood Magazine
his boldest musical palette on record yet.
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Stack
etting Into Knives captures the often contradictory pursuit of trying to be oneself to the max while revelling in the shibboleths of a small community. Heaped with wry first-person narratives and precise observation, Darnielle et al. are still at the height of their powers.
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Lyric Magazine
A JOYOUS, EMOTIONALLY LAYERED SET OF DIVERSE SONGS.
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Narc Magazine
A MEMORABLE RECORD WHICH DELVES INTO THE INEVITABILITY OF GRIEF AND LOSS.
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