A narrator requests that you bring in the cadaver sniffing dog to sniff the metaphorical cadaver in “Cadaver Sniffing Dog.”

Track: “Cadaver Sniffing Dog”
Album: In League with Dragons (2019)

At the time of this writing, fans of the Mountain Goats are mad about someone who ranked every existing Mountain Goats album. The ranking is internally inconsistent and appears to be a troll job, so I’m not even going to link to it. I mention it because any attempt in any forum to say anything the Mountain Goats have done is better than anything else elicits an argument. I read one thread where people listed every single album in a comment akin to “I can’t believe [XYZ] was snubbed.” If it’s your favorite, to you, it should be everyone’s favorite.

I did not love “Cadaver Sniffing Dog” when I first heard it. I still think it’s the least interesting song on In League with Dragons, but that’s a pretty good place to be. I’d probably say In League with Dragons is my second-favorite of the last ten albums, just behind Heretic Pride. Are these widely held opinions? Does it matter? No, but I felt I couldn’t drag that other list without putting something out there. And I only mention this in this space about “Cadaver Sniffing Dog” because John Darnielle even jokes about the metaphor. The dog is sniffing for a relationship that’s long-since died. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that, because the jam carries it through. The jam also carries the chorus, which is the title restated four times. None of this is to diminish the song, and in fact I think this is all intended to show just how strong I find the rest of the album. Comparisons are handy, but rankings never really do it for me in the world of the Mountain Goats. Just enjoy the groove.