The single “As Many Candles As Possible” offers a huge sound and some real power.

Track: “As Many Candles As Possible”
Album: Getting Into Knives (2020)

I am approaching the end of Getting Into Knives and I still struggle with the fact that it seems to be my least favorite album from the Mountain Goats. Before it came out, I’m not sure I could have even picked one. I’m glad to have some distance now because some people seem to “fall off” with the band but for me it’s really just that this one doesn’t hit me the way the others do. I love both albums that came after this one and after revisiting it, I think I had the wrong impression from this one from my initial listens. All that preface said, the morning the band released “As Many Candles As Possible” I was absolutely stoked.

I haven’t gone back to it very often and I put it in a category with “Rain in Soho.” In both cases, they’re “singles” (whatever that means these days) and they’re both a little bit harder than most of the fare on their respective albums. Both have some great lyrics and both are undeniably among the most complete tracks the band has ever released. But part of the joy of the Goats for me is that it feels like it’s coming through a frequency that most other music isn’t. There’s a reason the meme about the band is that it’s the only band you listen to if you’re a fan. This is a truly great song and the opening two lines are all-timers, even for John Darnielle, but for whatever reason I listen to it, I like it, and I don’t find myself going back to it as often as the title track. I think that’s probably OK.