This is the musical equivalent of the moment in a sitcom where someone walks in and everyone applauds. Jenny is a huge figure in the shared fiction that is Mountain

This is the musical equivalent of the moment in a sitcom where someone walks in and everyone applauds. Jenny is a huge figure in the shared fiction that is Mountain Goats songs, a figure of wildness and adoration and chaos and trouble and so much more, and hearing this second

There's something about a rowdy, revolutionary church song that reaches even to those who were never part of the congregation. I never had a faith to lose, I hnever had

There's something about a rowdy, revolutionary church song that reaches even to those who were never part of the congregation. I never had a faith to lose, I hnever had a church to find to be rotten, I never had this as a structure to be moved on from. And

You're taking a nap in the middle of the day with the person you love. The two of you snuggled. Maybe cats but not necessarily cats. And you're warm and

You're taking a nap in the middle of the day with the person you love. The two of you snuggled. Maybe cats but not necessarily cats. And you're warm and you're content and you've perhaps been apart but are now together. And for a fleeting moment, almost to brief to

This is one of the purest folk songs from this period of the Mountain Goats. It's an ode to useless material worth and poisoned love: two people who depend on

This is one of the purest folk songs from this period of the Mountain Goats. It's an ode to useless material worth and poisoned love: two people who depend on each other to the point where it's making both of them sick and preventing either of them from leaving. The

The blurred space between song and poem and fiction sketch is the place where the Mountain Goats live best, and this song is a wonderful example of this, acting as

The blurred space between song and poem and fiction sketch is the place where the Mountain Goats live best, and this song is a wonderful example of this, acting as a crack we can look through to see the two occupants of this car in the dark as it rides

Simple but very strong chord progression on this one, which puts me in mind (in feel and lyrical content) of Dilaudid from The Sunset Tree, which feels like a song

Simple but very strong chord progression on this one, which puts me in mind (in feel and lyrical content) of Dilaudid from The Sunset Tree, which feels like a song that will come from this at some point. Mountain Goats songs about relationships crumbling aren't rare, but this is one

This is an interesting song because it sneaks up on you in a way. The story of a high school sport's star's fall from grace is fertile and oft visited

This is an interesting song because it sneaks up on you in a way. The story of a high school sport's star's fall from grace is fertile and oft visited territory, and I felt like I could hear the line about blowing out his knee before I heard the line

OK, so we've started to hit the songs that I can hear without listening to them. There's something simple and wonderful about this song, which is a simple yarn about

OK, so we've started to hit the songs that I can hear without listening to them. There's something simple and wonderful about this song, which is a simple yarn about rebellion and friendship and passion and repression and Satan, and that would be enough for it to be a small

And our trilogy of death continues from a different point of view. This is a tremendously lively song for what it represents, with a beat that put me in mind

And our trilogy of death continues from a different point of view. This is a tremendously lively song for what it represents, with a beat that put me in mind of the best of early Billy Bragg, and the same combination of strumming energy and considered thought. I don't know

This is a song aimed at the heavens, under the joyfully lamenting hope that that's where its intended audience is. There's something hard to process about songs for people who

This is a song aimed at the heavens, under the joyfully lamenting hope that that's where its intended audience is. There's something hard to process about songs for people who aren't necessarily in a position to hear them. Words that you want to elevate beyond the material, but which will

Well, the world continued. And so did we. And this is a simple song about small moments of love. If you've ever been awake late at night past the time

Well, the world continued. And so did we. And this is a simple song about small moments of love. If you've ever been awake late at night past the time when the person you love is awake, and you've looked over and listened to the sound of their breathing, and

I don't know if I have anything to say about this song today. I'm in a place of horror. I hope that at some point I look back and see

I don't know if I have anything to say about this song today. I'm in a place of horror. I hope that at some point I look back and see what a silly thing this was to be horrified by, but right now the situation with Iran has me feeling

There's something fascinating as someone who grew up without any religion of seeing the shapes that belief makes when it is instilled but then carefully considered. There are aspects of

There's something fascinating as someone who grew up without any religion of seeing the shapes that belief makes when it is instilled but then carefully considered. There are aspects of imagery and language that to me are learned and to some people are second nature, and it creates as much

Tape hum, I have missed you. And the songs have moved on since you and I last broke bread. This is a small pastoral about disappearing. A simple idea that

Tape hum, I have missed you. And the songs have moved on since you and I last broke bread. This is a small pastoral about disappearing. A simple idea that commits to its imagery rather than using it as disguise. It's a hymn to the pleasures of leaving, to the

This song doesn't exist. Neither does this blog post.

This song doesn't exist. Neither does this blog post.

I'm going to say something odd about this one. Some background first. I'm a later Mountain Goats fan. Didn't listen to them until probably 2019. First album was The Sunset

I'm going to say something odd about this one. Some background first. I'm a later Mountain Goats fan. Didn't listen to them until probably 2019. First album was The Sunset Tree. I think that sets the scene as to how this band first grounded with me, as a fairly mature

This is kind of a tough one. It's unreleased, the only recording seems to be a single recorder version of a performance where John was belting it out and his

This is kind of a tough one. It's unreleased, the only recording seems to be a single recorder version of a performance where John was belting it out and his voice was suffering as a result. It touches on a lot of John of This Period themes. Strained love, moving

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