So I'm compulsive about signing up for new things and then not using them. Over the more than two decades that blogging has been a thing I've probably made more

So I'm compulsive about signing up for new things and then not using them. Over the more than two decades that blogging has been a thing I've probably made more than twenty and not used them because there's something terrifying about the blank feed that could be anything. I always

Sometimes things creep up on you. They become true over a course of enough time that by the time you realise it you're realising what has happened not what is

Sometimes things creep up on you. They become true over a course of enough time that by the time you realise it you're realising what has happened not what is happening. So it is with this song and the realisation that Mountain Goats have gone from being a band of

"Your love is like a cyclone in a swamp" is one of the lines of all time. This is an intense song of chaos, in the intense part of a

"Your love is like a cyclone in a swamp" is one of the lines of all time. This is an intense song of chaos, in the intense part of a relationship going bad. John's "alpha couple" have many twists and turns on their way to purgatory, but this one is

A driving bop, full of energy. Starts with stabbing Superman with a broadsword and goes up from there. This is full of energy, admittedly dark energy, and is a packed

A driving bop, full of energy. Starts with stabbing Superman with a broadsword and goes up from there. This is full of energy, admittedly dark energy, and is a packed fantasia of fraught things happening to fraught people. It's also... and even as I type this I'm not sure exactly

There is something delightfully sleazy about the instrumentation of this song. I'm getting a strong dose of PJ Harvey. More than that, this is a song with swagger in a

There is something delightfully sleazy about the instrumentation of this song. I'm getting a strong dose of PJ Harvey. More than that, this is a song with swagger in a way that feels new to Mountain Goats songs. The wild harmonica at the end gives this is feeling of a

A secret small love of mine: songs where someone sings "la la la la" We're wandering still further into Tallahassee, reaching what might be thought of as an upswing in

A secret small love of mine: songs where someone sings "la la la la" We're wandering still further into Tallahassee, reaching what might be thought of as an upswing in the dysfunctional relationship that is this couple. There is happiness here, albeit a desperate happiness kicking to stay afloat. "I

It continues to interest me how much more complete Tallahassee feels as a sound for a band than the previous Mountain Goats albums, and "band" is the word here. There

It continues to interest me how much more complete Tallahassee feels as a sound for a band than the previous Mountain Goats albums, and "band" is the word here. There are at maximum three instruments playing at the same time here, not counting John's voice, and yet the sound is

In retrospect this song is a thumping great mission statement. It's the first track on one of the two most pivotal Mountain Goats albums, with All Hail West Texas being

In retrospect this song is a thumping great mission statement. It's the first track on one of the two most pivotal Mountain Goats albums, with All Hail West Texas being the perfection of the "Guitar and buzzing tape recorder" era, and Tallahassee being the start of the "full band and

All right folks, it's taken us four months but we've reached Tallahassee. And we're starting off with one of the most genuinely wonderful songs on this album. An ode to

All right folks, it's taken us four months but we've reached Tallahassee. And we're starting off with one of the most genuinely wonderful songs on this album. An ode to exhausted but still kicking love. Toxic, poisoned, bleeding, but still real and powerful. And my god, is the instrumentation of

Technically this isn't a Mountain Goats song. It's instead a song by The Extra Glenns, a band consisting of John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno. But what it actually is is

Technically this isn't a Mountain Goats song. It's instead a song by The Extra Glenns, a band consisting of John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno. But what it actually is is a lovely bop with some honky tonk piano and delightful guitars. As for the narrative of this song, it's an

Well, it's the end of the month, so it's time for rarities and miscellany, and a soft-voice John song of tragic domesticity is exactly what we asked for. There's something

Well, it's the end of the month, so it's time for rarities and miscellany, and a soft-voice John song of tragic domesticity is exactly what we asked for. There's something so unsettlingly real about the moments of doomed relationships that John captures in songs like this. Two people cursed to

My "Don't commit insurance fraud, it's not worth it" song has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the song. In all seriousness, this is a delightful, ominous

My "Don't commit insurance fraud, it's not worth it" song has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the song. In all seriousness, this is a delightful, ominous song about love burning down, which is a common theme in this era of Mountain Goats. It's a song that

"The summer came in carrying spring in its mouth" is an incredible first line, and the rest of the song follows as poetic metaphor that starts from love but soars

"The summer came in carrying spring in its mouth" is an incredible first line, and the rest of the song follows as poetic metaphor that starts from love but soars into something elemental. There's an interesting thing happening with John's lyrics as time goes by. His content isn't getting more

Hearing full or even partial band Mountain Goats from this period (this is another Devil in the Shortwave track) is a really interesting experience, because it feels like watching something

Hearing full or even partial band Mountain Goats from this period (this is another Devil in the Shortwave track) is a really interesting experience, because it feels like watching something emerge. This is true nowhere more than in this track, which starts off with simple guitar and strings and builds

There's something especially American about the aimless road trip, the small towns flitted through when you're going not towards but away, places that must have their own life but which

There's something especially American about the aimless road trip, the small towns flitted through when you're going not towards but away, places that must have their own life but which you only experience as lonely and quiet stops on the way towards you don't know what. One of the things

I'm not sure if this is the happiest song about getting a bloody injury, but the only competition I can think is Me And You Against The World by Space,

I'm not sure if this is the happiest song about getting a bloody injury, but the only competition I can think is Me And You Against The World by Space, and that's far less of a rousing folk ballad. This is a song about revelation at the wrong moment. The

God, I needed this today. One of my favourite Mountain Goats songs for years. The best happy songs are the ones that don't bullshit you. They don't pretend that everything's

God, I needed this today. One of my favourite Mountain Goats songs for years. The best happy songs are the ones that don't bullshit you. They don't pretend that everything's good, or that evil doesn't exist. What they tell you is that the world is fucked but that sometimes there's

This is a goodbye. The last song on an EP about last songs. It's someone not saying what's happening, but not saying it more blatantly than just saying it. One

This is a goodbye. The last song on an EP about last songs. It's someone not saying what's happening, but not saying it more blatantly than just saying it. One of the most common sentiments of my life - and one of the ones that gets me twisted around myself

An honest to goodness blues song beginning with the words "woke up this morning". This has a wonderful smoky uneasy tone to it of someone fundamentally uncomfortable in the world.

An honest to goodness blues song beginning with the words "woke up this morning". This has a wonderful smoky uneasy tone to it of someone fundamentally uncomfortable in the world. Trying to live like they know they're supposed to live and finding at each point they are the wrong shape

I take back any smack I have talked about previous loud tape recorders. And with that momentary swipe I will sit and just listen to this absolutely lovely relaxing beach

I take back any smack I have talked about previous loud tape recorders. And with that momentary swipe I will sit and just listen to this absolutely lovely relaxing beach song. Simple pastoral lyrics of going back to places filled with ghosts. This is a song about endings, of going