The Mountain Goats Announce New Album 'Days' With Lead Single Charlie Sheen Reaches Out To The Feds
Thursday, 14 May 2026
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Alan Velasco
The Mountain Goats have announced their 24th album.
The prolific California band will release 'Days' on August 7 via their own Cadmean Dawn Records, following 'Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan', which dropped just six months ago.
If the title seems familiar, it's because frontman John Darnielle revealed that the record began life as 'Grunges', a sequel to 2017’s 'Goths', after he made a "joke on social media about writing a song called ‘Contemplating Pearl Jam in the Carolina Dawn.’” From there, it evolved into something more thoughtful:
"A few months later my wife left town for a two week residency in Virginia. My wife leaving town to play hockey in Banff is how 'All Hail West Texas' happened. These songs are loosely about the 70s, 80s, and 90s, which is to say they’re about the accumulation of days, each one a little further back than the next, sometimes miraculously seeming clearer as they recede and sometimes blurring into unrecognizable shapes which are sometimes pleasant and sometimes troubling.
"Most songs here are in major keys but don’t let that fool you. If you do let that fool you I have a bridge to sell you; there is nothing on the other side of the bridge. Still, you shouldn’t let that deter you. Who am I to tell you what kind of bridge you need, or where the bridge you need should lead? Nobody, really. Nobody at all."
Produced by John Congleton and recorded at Sear Sound in Manhattan, the album features Darnielle, multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas and drummer Jon Wurster, but not bassist Peter Hughes, who left in 2024 after 30 years. Other contributing musicians include Rob Jost on bass and French horn, Manhattan Transfer's Janis Siegal and longtime collaborator Matt Nathanson on backing vocals, and harpist Mikaela Davis.
As a preview, the band have shared the first single, the brilliantly titled Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds, a driving track with vivid storytelling lyrics.
The Mountain Goats will tour will tour the US over the next couple of months, followed by UK and European shows in the autumn. Tickets are on sale now.
'Days' tracklist:
1. Song for Layne Staley
2. Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds
3. Shallow Grave
4. Candlebox
5. Annie Haslam Imperial Phase
6. Crying on Eddie Nash’s Grave
7. Days
8. Best Hard Rock Albums 2013
9. Going to Fennario
10. Woodstock
11. Hidden Majesty of Later Venom Albums
12. Last Day
The Mountain Goats Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Fri May 15 2026 - SILVER SPRING Maryland - Fillmore Silver Spring (USA)
Sat May 16 2026 - WOODSTOCK New York - Bearsville Theater (USA)
Sun May 17 2026 - NEW HAVEN Connecticut - College Street Music Hall (USA)
Tue May 19 2026 - BOSTON Massachusetts - Citizens House Of Blues - Boston (USA)
Thu May 21 2026 - COLUMBUS Ohio - Newport Music Hall (USA)
Fri May 22 2026 - KALAMAZOO Michigan - Bells Beer Garden at Bells Eccentric Cafe (USA)
Sat May 23 2026 - INDIANAPOLIS Indiana - Vogue Theatre - IN (USA)
Sun May 24 2026 - ST LOUIS Missouri - Delmar Hall (USA)
Tue May 26 2026 - NASHVILLE Tennessee - Brooklyn Bowl - Nashville (USA)
Thu May 28 2026 - LEXINGTON Kentucky - Manchester Music Hall (USA)
Fri May 29 2026 - CHARLOTTE North Carolina - Neighborhood Theatre (USA)
Sat May 30 2026 - ATHENS Georgia - 40 Watt Club (USA)
Sun May 31 2026 - CHARLESTON South Carolina - Cistern Yard At College of Charleston (USA)
Fri June 26 2026 - BERWYN Illinois - FITZGERALDS PATIO (USA)
Sun August 09 2026 - SEATTLE Washington - Woodland Park Zoo (USA)
Fri August 14 2026 - CINCINNATI Ohio - Taft Theatre (USA)
Fri August 21 2026 - NORFOLK Virginia - NorVa (USA)
Sat August 22 2026 - DURHAM North Carolina - Durham Performing Arts Center (USA)
Tue November 24 2026 - LOS ANGELES California - Walt Disney Concert Hall (USA)
Mon October 05 2026 - HELSINKI KUUDES LINJA (Finland)
Wed October 07 2026 - STOCKHOLM Nalen (Sweden)
Thu October 08 2026 - OSLO Vulkan Arena (Norway)
Sat October 10 2026 - COPENHAGEN Pumpehuset (Denmark)
Sun October 11 2026 - BERLIN Metropol (Germany)
Tue October 13 2026 - GHENT De Centrale (Belgium)
Wed October 14 2026 - UTRECHT TivoliVredenburg (Netherlands)
Fri October 16 2026 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Sun October 18 2026 - DUBLIN Vicar Street
Mon October 19 2026 - GLASGOW Barrowland Ballroom
Wed October 21 2026 - LONDON Hackney Church
Thu October 22 2026 - LONDON Hackney Church
Fri October 23 2026 - BRISTOL Bristol Beacon
Thu December 10 2026 - NEW YORK New York - Carnegie Hall - Isaac Stern Auditorium (USA)
Fri December 11 2026 - NEW YORK New York - Carnegie Hall - Isaac Stern Auditorium (USA)
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