The Mountain Goats cover Bon Iver (listen)

The Mountain Goats recorded an EP of covers for Aquarium Drunkard’s The Lagniappe Sessions. Like Third Eye Blind also recently did, The Mountain Goats did a rendition of Bon Iver‘s “Blood Bank.” Their version is a departure from the original, adding horn and woodwind instrumentation that hearkens back to their 2017 album Goths, which was recorded without guitar.

John Darnielle wrote about his choice of cover:

The Bon Iver song that I initially read as being about junkies in the Pacific Northwest donating plasma for money in the ’80s, because that was a thing a lot of my friends did and a lot of those friends have gone home to God now so this song holds, for me, both great pain, and the sweet memory of friends too beautiful for this world.

The Mountain Goats also covered Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs” and “Save the People” from Godspell for the EP. Listen to all three songs via Aquarium Drunkard.

John Darnielle comes to NYC to curate a “special evening of favorite stories” for Symphony Space’s ‘Selected Shorts’ series on October 24 Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, and tickets are on sale.