The Bright Mountain Choir delivers a strange, beautiful performance on “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song.”

Track: “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song”
Album: Zopilote Machine (1994)

“Sinaloan Milk Snake Song” has been played live and recorded a handful of times. There are even a few videos you can find, which isn’t common and is sometimes discouraged directly by John Darnielle. There’s a compulsion as a fan to want to see everything, but also it’s understandable that John Darnielle wants to keep some mystique. In most cases, I’d suggest live versions of songs as John Darnielle is an incredible performer and you owe it to yourself to witness how consistently he goes for broke. “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song” is a rare case where I have to side with the album.

The Bright Mountain Choir is four people, including former bassist Rachel Ware, who performed backing vocals on a lot of early Mountain Goats albums. They may never be better represented than “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song.” The chorus mixes John Darnielle’s drone with their harmony to create a much different vibe than most other songs from the period. Different members of the Choir jump in and out with fluttering sounds, sometimes hitting the words and sometimes not, and it feels panicked in a deliberate way. It’s reductive to say “you have to hear it” but you really do, in this case, have to hear it.

“I’ve got a message for you // but you’re gonna have to come and get it” is a threat, most likely, and “ever since I came here // all I could think about is water” is an extremely John Darnielle thing to say. The lyrics are something, but it’s really the Choir that sells this one. John Darnielle’s voice cracks in key places and it may not be everyone’s style to view “voice cracks” and “drone” as positives, but this narrator sells us on their situation and it all mixes quite nicely with the harmonies.