It's October 2008. You're in a small sports bar next to a Best Western in a town in West Virginia whose name you genuinely do not remember. You drove half

It's October 2008. You're in a small sports bar next to a Best Western in a town in West Virginia whose name you genuinely do not remember. You drove half of the day and say in the passenger seat for the other half while your wife drove. You're going from

OK, so rhyming Brendan Behan and "Tripoli, and" puts me entirely on this song's side, and boy is that ever just the start. John is flying with this one, soaring

OK, so rhyming Brendan Behan and "Tripoli, and" puts me entirely on this song's side, and boy is that ever just the start. John is flying with this one, soaring through Americana like a pair of bottle rockets, in a Chairman Mao coat with a jetpack strapped to his back.

Hitting the rough edges of (deeply religious) punk here, as John looks at the parts of the bible most likely to get him in trouble with certain other people of

Hitting the rough edges of (deeply religious) punk here, as John looks at the parts of the bible most likely to get him in trouble with certain other people of faith. It's a funny thing, wickedness. Or the assumption of wickedness. Collective punishment is justified by the idea that everyone

This song begins at the intersection of a variety of John's abilities hitting their full maturity. The guitar work, confidence of voice, and beauty of the lyrics all come together

This song begins at the intersection of a variety of John's abilities hitting their full maturity. The guitar work, confidence of voice, and beauty of the lyrics all come together into a rather perfect piece of folk music about the past becoming even more the past. I've lived in North

Not a blues, let's start there. Which is pedantic and silly about a song that's joyful and silly. And also sad. This is a sing about faith in the hidden

Not a blues, let's start there. Which is pedantic and silly about a song that's joyful and silly. And also sad. This is a sing about faith in the hidden things. About yearning for the reassurance that better things are happening somewhere, just a little too quiet for you to

I don't know if this is the first time I've heard an electric guitar in a Mountain Goats song, but it's certainly one of the earliest examples to leap out

I don't know if this is the first time I've heard an electric guitar in a Mountain Goats song, but it's certainly one of the earliest examples to leap out at me, an electric sound with vibrato buit no distortion, in a full background of instrumentation. This song is a

What a delightful whimsical little song. Edges of Big Rock Candy Mountain, with the sort of sincerity of someone who with their entire heart and soul believe they are being

What a delightful whimsical little song. Edges of Big Rock Candy Mountain, with the sort of sincerity of someone who with their entire heart and soul believe they are being a lil goof. Done with anything less than sincerity, done with horror of horrors irony this would be insufferable. it

I can feel the landscape of this song. It's an early morning, some fog in the air, and there's a calm in the air. And somewhere within that a fantasy

I can feel the landscape of this song. It's an early morning, some fog in the air, and there's a calm in the air. And somewhere within that a fantasy made of choppy guitar and harmonica. It's a small one, this. A quick scene that is the edge of pastoral,

Welcome back tape hum. John sets a table here, a beautiful domestic scene of a garden being planted, a kitchen being outfitted, a series of events that will survive the

Welcome back tape hum. John sets a table here, a beautiful domestic scene of a garden being planted, a kitchen being outfitted, a series of events that will survive the singer. This is a small gem, a bleak song of hope. Things pass, but we can make sure things endure.

A couple of songs into Full Force Galesberg and the first thing that is striking me about this record is how much fuller the sound is than what has come

A couple of songs into Full Force Galesberg and the first thing that is striking me about this record is how much fuller the sound is than what has come before. Not just that there are more instruments, but that this album's exploration of the folk space is lending itself

It's late. Not absurdly late, not so late it's actually early again. But, like 1:30. There's a party going on nearby, and you're not quite at it. You were at

It's late. Not absurdly late, not so late it's actually early again. But, like 1:30. There's a party going on nearby, and you're not quite at it. You were at it, but the house has a porch and you didn't want that many people near you. You're talking to a

It's not March 17, it's March 23rd, and I have the kind of cold and headache that mean I'm only vaguely tethered to reality. Perfect time to hear a Mountain

It's not March 17, it's March 23rd, and I have the kind of cold and headache that mean I'm only vaguely tethered to reality. Perfect time to hear a Mountain Goats song from the fringes of existence. This was apparently only played live once. Hard to think why, as it's

OK, so full disclosure: I've been on holiday and am currently sick for the second time since the last block update I did. This is why these are late and

OK, so full disclosure: I've been on holiday and am currently sick for the second time since the last block update I did. This is why these are late and why this is incoherent. Makes sense therefore that this is a sort of hidden track, with only live versions. Adding

Floating away on the guitar of this song, so much of a woodland pastoral, the sound of double the expected strings out under a canopy of trees. This is a

Floating away on the guitar of this song, so much of a woodland pastoral, the sound of double the expected strings out under a canopy of trees. This is a song of solitude, which is a different thing from loneliness, it's the sound of someone far beyond society. This song

Mountain Goats do folk horror. The discordant guitars are a particular delight here with the imaginative language of a strange inhabitant of a strange albion. This is a beautiful and

Mountain Goats do folk horror. The discordant guitars are a particular delight here with the imaginative language of a strange inhabitant of a strange albion. This is a beautiful and strange land of odd landscapes and odd feelings, and at their heart the human moment of seeing the person you

The rhythm of this reminded me of Santa Monica by Everclear, although that's where the similarity ended. It's a wonderfully calm and matter of fact delivery for lyrical material that

The rhythm of this reminded me of Santa Monica by Everclear, although that's where the similarity ended. It's a wonderfully calm and matter of fact delivery for lyrical material that starts in the mythological and goes upwards from there. Often John sits at points in the alignment that are directly

There's a strange moment at this start of this song where for just a moment I hear a very familiar guitar part, only... it's not familiar yet. It's inevitable for

There's a strange moment at this start of this song where for just a moment I hear a very familiar guitar part, only... it's not familiar yet. It's inevitable for a songwriter who has written (as can be seen in this project) 366 songs, but for just a few bars

The bouncing roll of the guitar in this is an early example of one of my favourite John tropes: the jolly, catchy song about how depressed the singer is and

The bouncing roll of the guitar in this is an early example of one of my favourite John tropes: the jolly, catchy song about how depressed the singer is and how much everything is terrible. Well, that's dismissive. It's not just about that, although the "it made me wish I

A delightful little folky number, four verses about four trees with different personalities and characteristics, with a delightful sting in the tail about the last one. This song is insubstantial,

A delightful little folky number, four verses about four trees with different personalities and characteristics, with a delightful sting in the tail about the last one. This song is insubstantial, but delightful in its insubstantiality. It's a small growth in a woodland glade, away from people, with an abundance of

It's the quiet ones that get me. I love a bit of big jangly guitar, and as we get onto full band numbers there are going to be some amazing

It's the quiet ones that get me. I love a bit of big jangly guitar, and as we get onto full band numbers there are going to be some amazing things going on, but something about soft picking and near whispered vocals captures something pure in this music. This isn't