Beat the Champ

AlbumApr 07 / 201513 songs, 45m 57s
Indie Folk Folk Rock Singer-Songwriter
Popular
6.6 / 10

The Mountain Goats' new LP is dedicated to John Darnielle's childhood pro-wrestling heroes, using the particulars of their lives to explore his own personal mythology. There’s a noble simplicity to these songs, reflecting Darnielle’s warm memories of his fandom.

C

The words “John Darnielle” and “professional wrestling” wouldn’t seem like a natural pairing, but given that The Mountain Goats’ frontman has recorded concept albums about meth addicts, domestic violence, group homes, and Bible verses, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’d get around to applying his…

8 / 10

8 / 10

Album #15 from inexhaustible pop-cultural polymath John Darnielle’s beloved cult act. All hail the nostalgic wrestling-themed opus!

7.5 / 10

I have no idea how many Mountain Goats fans are also into professional wrestling. I assume the percentage is not very high.…

Check out our album review of Artist's Beat the Champ on Rolling Stone.com.

As a standalone album it lacks a coherent sound.

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats was a passionate fan of professional wrestling when he was a kid in the '70s, before the game reinvented itself into a glossy entertainment experience akin to a hair metal concert.

Self-assured is the songwriter who writes an entire album about Mexican wrestling, but John Darnielle gives Beat The Champ a resonance beyond the ring.

8 / 10

"Some things you will remember / Some things stay sweet forever," John Darnielle sings at one point on Beat the Champ, his 15th full-length...

6.5 / 10

North Carolina-based singer/songwriter John Darnielle has been busy since The Mountain Goats' last album, Transcendental Youth, was released in 2012.

8 / 10

65 %

7 / 10