With some of the best wordplay on the album, “Stench of the Unburied” shows us one moment and suggests many others.

Track: “Stench of the Unburied”
Album: Goths (2017)

Most of the modern Mountain Goats albums are “the _______ one.” Beat the Champ is “the wrestling one.” The Life of the World to Come is “the Bible one.” Goths is, well, you get it. That said, I don’t think you need to be all that familiar with the subject matter to appreciate the album, but Goths bucks that trend. I loved it immediately when I heard it, but I’ll admit that I still like general songs like “Shelved” more than the more directly specific songs about actual, real-deal goths. It’s just not my world, so it doesn’t connect with me the way it does with people who lived or live in this space.

“Stench of the Unburied” is the space between those two worlds. It’s hyper-specific, down to the mention of a German electronics company, but it’s also about a feeling of impending doom that requires no experience in the culture the song references. “Incoherent but functional” is John Darnielle at his absolute best, and “say what you will for the effort // you can’t fault the technique” tells us even more about this character than the grime on their clothes does.

When I listen to “Stench of the Unburied” I’m always reminded of “Beat the Devil,” a pretty deep cut that I love a lot. Both songs are about the sudden realization of police breaking up a druggy, tense situation and both songs suggest this was all going to break down way before it became obvious to the narrator. These aren’t the same people, but they’re in the same moment and they’re feeling the same thing. Taken literally it’s grim, but it’s one of the many rungs on the ladder that Darnielle’s characters must climb.