The Mountain Goats’ recent album Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan features a bunch of guests, from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Mikaela Davis to Josh Kaufman. The coolest name on the list — and he’d be the coolest name on most lists — is Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson, who played on two tracks. The addition of a famous rock-star bassist was well-timed, seeing as the Goats’ longtime bass player Peter Hughes left the band last year. And conveniently, the famous rock-star bassist was available when John Darnielle and friends went on TV to promote the new record.
On Stephen Colbert’s Late Show Tuesday night, the Mountain Goats performed “Cold At Night,” one of the Peter Balkan songs that features Stinson. (The other is “Dawn Of Revelation.”) Stinson was part of the live band, and so were a string section and a pair of backup singers, but what stood out to me most was how sharp Darnielle’s lyrics continue to be. It was a fantastic performance of an incredible song, so watch it below.
Both Darnielle and Stinson have done We’ve Got A File On You features for Stereogum, if charming, intimate, career-spanning interviews are your kind of thing.
