This Phillyist would like to thank a certain pink-haired girl for introducing me to one of the greatest bands to come out of Southern California in the '90s: The Mountain Goats. Singer-songwriter John Darnielle is pretty much the only permanent member of the band, although he's been accompanied by Peter Hughes for quite a while now, along with a shifting group of other people. The lyrics are powerful, intelligent, character-driven, and literate—but don't worry, there's plenty of sex and drugs in them, too. The music is catchy folk/indie rock. Their masterpiece is still probably the stunning The Sunset Tree, which is loaded with incredibly moving, incredibly beautiful, incredibly excellent songs, like "This Year" and "Love Love Love." But Heretic Pride, released in mid February, is also quite good, with plenty of its own amazing tracks, like "Craters on the Moon" and "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" (although, admittedly, we're a sucker for anything about Lovecraft).

You can check out The Mountain Goats for yourself when they visit Philly's own First Unitarian Church tomorrow night with The Moaners. That is, you can if you've already got a ticket. We're afraid the show is sold out. Either way, you can hit the R5 Productions website, scroll down, and download some free MP3 tracks by the Goats, to get you pumped for the show, or to get a taste of what you're missing.

The Mountain Goats w/The Moaners
First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.)
Thu, 3/20/08, 8PM
SOLD OUT

Image via taringa.net