The Mountain Goats – Metro Theatre, Sydney – Saturday, 6 January

It takes quite a nerve for a two-man band confronting the biggest audience they’ve ever attracted (around 1,000) to open the set with a song as intimate and introverted as Wild Sage but it was delivered with such confidence and conviction that the audience was soon hanging on every note.

For this Australian tour, the Goats are John Darnielle (of course) and bassist Peter Hughes, with current producer, John Vanderslice, lending a hand for the closing songs, and also acting as the support act.

That first song swept away all doubts about whether a band whose songs travel such dark and often depressing territory could engage such a big audience. Quite simply, they communicate, though it was sometimes hard to tell whether Darnielle was expressing savage glee or deep torment when he delivered classic lines like “I hope you die/I hope we both die” from the classic No Children or “I am going to make it through this year if it kills me” from This Year.

Either way, it worked, not least because he clearly now has a huge following who embrace the lyrics like old friends. The Goats generate a huge sound from just two guitars and as much emotion and excitement. I’m an even bigger fan now.

The Be Good Tanyas – Hello Love – Nettwork

There seems to be some controversy about how to categorise the music of the Be Good Tanyas, as they’ve been labelled as folk, blues, bluegrass, alt country and Americana. I guess the truth is that there’s something of all these genres in their output, though I remain unsure about the difference between alt country and Americana. Controversy may be too strong a word, come to think of it, as nobody seems too bothered, wisely preferring to listen to the music instead.

But then the music isn’t likely to get you too worked up, either. It’s all slow, dreamy and beautifully played, ranging from the traditional, like What Are They Doing in Heaven Tonight, through John Hurt’s Nobody Cares for Me, on which Jolie Holland makes an appearance as a former band member, to Neil Young’s For the Turnstiles and the Tanyas’ own songs. I think the dreaminess is part of the problem, coupled with their quiet, slurred delivery that makes it hard to make out the words. I’ve enjoyed the album every time I’ve played it, rather like a walk on a familiar beach – you’re glad you went but you didn’t see or hear anything new.