• Track Listing

Double vinyl LP pressing include digital download. 2015 release from the veteran indie folk band led by John Darnielle. “Beat the Champ is about professional wrestling, which was an avenue of escape for me when I was a kid. Wrestling was low-budget working class entertainment back then, strictly UHF material. It was cheap theater. You had to bring your imagination to the proceedings and you got paid back double. I wrote these songs to re-immerse myself in the blood and fire of the visions that spoke to me as a child, and to see what more there might be in them now that I’m grown.” — John. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle despite the plural moniker. Although he remains the core member of the band, he has gradually worked with a variety of collaborators.