"Sax Rohmer #1" is the first track on

the Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

' ''

Heretic Pride ''Heretic Pride'' is the eleventh studio album by the Mountain Goats, released in the UK on February 18, 2008, and in the US on February 19 by 4AD, their sixth album on the label. It is the first to feature the band's lineup of John Darnielle, ...

'' album released in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

. The song describes the milieu of prolific English writer

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...

whose series of novels featured master criminal Dr.

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu ( zh, t=傅滿洲/福滿洲, p=Fú Mǎnzhōu) is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character f ...

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

''s Steve Leggett called "Sax Rohmer #1" "shuffling." ''

Crawdaddy! ''Crawdaddy'' was an American rock music magazine launched in 1966. It was created by Paul Williams, a Swarthmore College student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine w ...

''s Jessica Gentile called "Sax Rohmer #1" an "anthemic opener

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

lets us know that 'All roads lead towards the same blocked intersection.'"

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

s Afton Woodward called "Sax Rohmer #1" "one of the best songs" from ''

'' stating " arniellelets loose a barrage of dark and sinister imagery that could have been lifted from a Fu Manchu novel, from 'piles of broken bricks, sign posts on the path' to 'hopeless urchins' and 'spies from imperial China.' He lays this narrative over a diligent but unremarkable guitar melody, intentionally (and wisely) letting the story dominate. But then, slipping into a catchy and strangely upbeat chorus, the song becomes less about the dangers of Rohmer's dark world, and more about finding the way home in spite of them." '' Paste''s Jesse Jarnow noted the melodrama with lyrics as "I am coming home to you, with my own blood in my mouth ... if it’s the last thing that I do." and found the song reflective in "phrasing and word choice" of "Half Dead" from the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Get Lonely''. ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

''s Zach Baron called "Sax Rohmer #1" (along with "

Lovecraft in Brooklyn "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" is the eighth track on the Mountain Goats' ''Heretic Pride'' album released in 2008 on 4AD. The title refers to the fears of horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft during his residence in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Lyrics In ...

" and "In the Craters of the Moon") a "seething throwback ..taut, propulsive, paranoid, furious." ''Sputnikmusic''s Ryan Flatley remarked on the "fullness of the sound and words

spill out methodically behind a sweet-and-sour story that is almost heart-wrenching." ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' said they were "totally stoked with the older-school sound." ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''s Mike Powell reviewed "Sax Rohmer #1" noting both the character and composition. "The familiar grind of a character valiantly trying to make it home in a world full of reasons why he won't. Reality is so absurdly stacked against him that my inclination is to laugh, but it's hard to laugh at someone who admits his mouth is full of his own blood. Darnielle's flurry of downstrokes—he has about three different song types, the flurry-of-downstrokes model being the signature and possibly most beloved among them—is mimicked by the rattle of snare and the somersault of tom-toms. His urgency—and the song's poignancy—is encapsulated by the title's reference to Sax Rohmer, the English pulp novelist: a character blessed with an eye keen enough to catalog the grimness that surrounds him, but also dumb enough to believe he's going to escape it."

References

{{The Mountain Goats 2008 songs The Mountain Goats songs Songs about actors