So we're very much into the era of Mountain Goats songs being delightful little bops. This is a magical pastoral number, with spells under the surface and a strong fundamental

So we're very much into the era of Mountain Goats songs being delightful little bops. This is a magical pastoral number, with spells under the surface and a strong fundamental presence of nature. Actually, that's wrong. What's present here isn't nature. it's rural domesticity. And in an increasingly urban world

It might be the very live at a dive bar recording, but there is something delightfully and atmospherically nineties about this song. It might also be that half of the

It might be the very live at a dive bar recording, but there is something delightfully and atmospherically nineties about this song. It might also be that half of the chord sequence is Stars by Hum which is one of my favourite songs from the nineties. But the overall effect

The first thing that strikes me about this mix of spoken word and soaring vocals is that this might be the strongest that John's voice has sounded so far. In

The first thing that strikes me about this mix of spoken word and soaring vocals is that this might be the strongest that John's voice has sounded so far. In this song of love and isolation and the continual background fear of potential violence we hear a voice that is

Ah, a bad recording in a very different way than other ones. This is a radio recording of a live show, complete with proper radio hiss, and is one of

Ah, a bad recording in a very different way than other ones. This is a radio recording of a live show, complete with proper radio hiss, and is one of the only versions of this absolute ramp of a song. It's about love and guns and youth and death and

A chaotic descent of a sing, frantic chords and a low low riff on loose strings. This is a jangly open chord burst of burning paranoia, all signifiers and urgency.

A chaotic descent of a sing, frantic chords and a low low riff on loose strings. This is a jangly open chord burst of burning paranoia, all signifiers and urgency. There's a couple of versions of this, each from a confused and paranoid narrator to an unnamed but seemingly untrustworthy

Ich weiß nicht, warum dieses Lied mit einer Frau beginnt, die Deutsch spricht. This becomes a soothing soft keyboard song with the smallest hint of menace in it. An odd

Ich weiß nicht, warum dieses Lied mit einer Frau beginnt, die Deutsch spricht. This becomes a soothing soft keyboard song with the smallest hint of menace in it. An odd late night sound with a vocal that seems like it's trying not to be heard in another room. It very

I don't know why, but listening to this I found myself thinking of Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens. Something about the intersection of the universal and timeless and the immediate.

I don't know why, but listening to this I found myself thinking of Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens. Something about the intersection of the universal and timeless and the immediate. This is a cynical song about hope. About the wonderful things we wish for and don't get. About the darkness

Yes, this day doesn't exist this year, but this song does. Well, kind of. This is an unreleased song that exists largely in bootlegs. The particular version I heard was

Yes, this day doesn't exist this year, but this song does. Well, kind of. This is an unreleased song that exists largely in bootlegs. The particular version I heard was a 1999 bootleg from CBGBs, which displays probably more passion than skill. I've also linked a 2024 version. There's something

A burst of jangly energy here, covering a song that functions as an inverse love song. That feeling of having your day darken simply by someone's existence making itself known.

A burst of jangly energy here, covering a song that functions as an inverse love song. That feeling of having your day darken simply by someone's existence making itself known. I'm always fascinated by anti-romance in songs. The feeling of strong passion about someone, yearning even, but only negative passion.

The roll of this song is intense as it searches thought yearning and explores different concepts. This is an era of Mountain Goats songs that all feel like they take

The roll of this song is intense as it searches thought yearning and explores different concepts. This is an era of Mountain Goats songs that all feel like they take place at night in open places, and there's a certain mentality that the open creates in those places. During the

It takes a moment for the unstandard chords of this to settle, and the effect is interestingly unsettling and fits well with plaintive nostalgic lyrics about a love of the

It takes a moment for the unstandard chords of this to settle, and the effect is interestingly unsettling and fits well with plaintive nostalgic lyrics about a love of the past that clearly had doom in its core even if it had joy in the moment and regret in its

Sometimes a Mountain Goats song sounds like a letter from a lighthouse keeper in the middle of an ocean, recording the ways in which he spends his time and his

Sometimes a Mountain Goats song sounds like a letter from a lighthouse keeper in the middle of an ocean, recording the ways in which he spends his time and his sanity while waiting for relief and for someone to send his missives to. This is a song that can be

God, this is catchy. God this is catchy. A life and a travelogue in a song that lives in being close part harmony between a male and female voice. This

God, this is catchy. God this is catchy. A life and a travelogue in a song that lives in being close part harmony between a male and female voice. This is joyful and desperate and brimming over with love and need and no way back. I'm put in mind of

Back to the tape recorder, for this very claustrophobic track. Maybe it's just the headphones and the layers of sound but I felt like this song was coming at me

Back to the tape recorder, for this very claustrophobic track. Maybe it's just the headphones and the layers of sound but I felt like this song was coming at me from every side at once. The song itself is a rich chaos, double tracked vocals and dissonant memories. Blood and

And welcome back to folk territory. The guitar and vocals are soft and meditative storytelling, allowing the lyrics to perform a one-two punch of undermining and then reinforcing. Let's not

And welcome back to folk territory. The guitar and vocals are soft and meditative storytelling, allowing the lyrics to perform a one-two punch of undermining and then reinforcing. Let's not beat around the bush: this song is built around a pun. And as with the best pastiche is works largely

Folks, I don't want to freak you out, but I just heard an electric guitar. And multi-instrumentation. We're onto a new album here with new production standards. We are a

Folks, I don't want to freak you out, but I just heard an electric guitar. And multi-instrumentation. We're onto a new album here with new production standards. We are a long way from the rumble grumble of John's tape recorder and a lot closer to, well, indie music of 1995.

One of the profound joins of any era of the mountain Goats is the joyful song with the horrifying lyrics. On its surface, Against Agamemnon sounds like a joyful jangly

One of the profound joins of any era of the mountain Goats is the joyful song with the horrifying lyrics. On its surface, Against Agamemnon sounds like a joyful jangly pastoral, something with a countryside setting and abstract description. And then, as so often happens especially in early Mountain Goats,

A mainstay of all eras of the Mountain Goats is the song as a sketch. A small set of details spelling out something very specific, with the potential for universality

A mainstay of all eras of the Mountain Goats is the song as a sketch. A small set of details spelling out something very specific, with the potential for universality through the small details. Here, we're getting even more specific than usual and looking at a narrator, barely pictures, listening

This is an interesting time for production on Mountain Goats songs, as they move between solo and multi-instrumental and between tape recorder and studio. Sometimes this works very well, as

This is an interesting time for production on Mountain Goats songs, as they move between solo and multi-instrumental and between tape recorder and studio. Sometimes this works very well, as with Song For Dana Plato. Other times... OK, that feels unfair. I like this song quite a lot. There's something

A surprisingly full sound for this period, and a catching chorus at a point where John was quite chorus-averse. There's something nicely and deliberately unsettling in the bass progression that

A surprisingly full sound for this period, and a catching chorus at a point where John was quite chorus-averse. There's something nicely and deliberately unsettling in the bass progression that stops the song ever settling into a reassuring pattern, which works well with the subject matter. The catchy chorus of