Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
(4AD)
It is not too often that an artist's tenth album is the first one to be entirely recorded and produced within a professional studio. Then again, most artists are quite different from John Darnielle and The Mountain Goats. John has spent years recording and releasing albums in several different formats of his unique acoustic guitar-driven narrative songs. Despite sporting a slightly new and more refined sound, Tallahassee continues this musical trend without so much as a lost beat. Abandoning the trusty Panasonic FT-500 boombox whose wheel-grind has been an extra instrumentalist on so many previous releases, the Mountain Goats venture into Tarbox Studios (Mogwai, The Flaming Lips) to record this time around with Tony Doogan (Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai) behind the controls. Admittedly, the first time I played this album I was almost taken aback by the clean, crisp sound that was different from so many prior releases. A few listens later, after the initial shock had worn off and I was certain that John's distinct songwriting was still there, everything felt more at home.
Tallahassee is less a song cycle as much as it is more of a collection of songs about two characters who will immediately be familiar with past records from The Mountain Goats. The characters are a couple that first appeared in "Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina" on the Mountain Goats first release (Songs for Petronius 7" EP, Shrimper, 1992) and have continued to teeter on the brink of divorce for the better part of a decade over the course of songs titled "Alpha _(fill in any number of words and terms here)_." Tallahassee finds this couple at wit's end, ready to either stay together forever or actually get divorced, and they retreat to Florida in an effort to work all of these details out. Over fourteen songs both characters continue to up the ante on their relationship by starting a small trade in arms trafficking, alternating between loving each other and that special hatred that can only be held for someone you truly care about and just about everything else you would want to experience from a truly dysfunctional relationship. While it might sound like these songs would really only appeal to the band's long-time fans, Darnielle has stealthily crafted Tallahassee into an open-ended and accessible record. Do not be afraid—the characters and situations are well explained in Darnielle's lyrics so that the backstory isn't completely necessary.
Accompanying Darnielle's voice and guitar is the sound of rich bass, something that has been absent from records by the Mountain Goats for a considerable period of time. Longtime friend and sometimes collaborator Peter Hughes has taken on this role in the Tallahassee sessions as well as just about every other musical role imaginable—additional guitar work, harmony vocals, the occasional drums, shakers. Franklin Bruno, Darnielle's associate from the Extra Glenns, also provides some guitar and piano on a few select tracks. Hughes is largely the only other musical presence apart from Darnielle on this album. Performing largely as a duo, it would seem that the musical output would more closely resemble the prior records that were mostly John and Rachel Ware on bass, but the multi-tracking has allowed the sound to open up. At some moments the additional instruments work effortlessly into the Mountain Goats scheme. "See America Right," with its driving rhythm section (!) showcases Darnielle's efforts to step forth with his most strained and outwardly agitated vocal work on the entire album. Displaying the irritation, frustration, and intoxication that has been steadily building within the characters over the course of their time together. "Oceanographer's Choice," the album's other drum-driven track, works quite nicely. Other tracks handsomely these additional instruments—like the delicate backing base on the disc-opening title track and "Idylls of the King," the ominous extra tones of "The House that Dripped Blood," and the nice guitar interplay of "Peacocks".
"International Small Arms Traffic Blues" is my new leader for the song title of the year award and part of me thinks that it could only be a song title used by The Mountain Goats. The narrator creates a series of caparisons between his affection and the various vehicles that help transport illicit weapons. As cornball as it might sound written here, at the end of these comparisons there's something powerfully touching about the line "you got the best of my love." This is just a small example of how Darnielle's lyrics, always his strongest point, remain just as potent as ever. Tallahassee is no exception when it comes to this strong lyrical work. If this is your first chance to hear a record by The Mountain Goats odds are you'll be captivated by John's storytelling abilities, as they completely envelop the listener. Gone are some of the narrative devices that have been in countless previous releases such as talking animals and cruel twists of fate from careless gods, as Darnielle leaves the focus on humankind this go around. Another fine example comes from "Old College Try" as the speaker likens the spark in his spouse's eyes to "the searchlights in the parking lots of hell."
Tallahassee is most certainly a fine record, but not the absolute best one that the Mountain Goats have ever released. This comment does not strike as condemnation, but rather a guidepost to help compare Tallahassee to other entries in the Mountain Goats' overall catalog. A third or fourth-rate record by the Mountain Goats would still rank on a year-end top ten list—they're that good. Darnielle's songs and releases have historically been quite frantic and lively, with the quieter fare resting on the back burner. Echoing the sentiments of a friend, this isn't exactly the record that I hoped would come out of the heels of the explosive All Hail West Texas, but it is a gem that is well worth adding to anyone's collection. I have often told friends how I feel that John Darnielle is the finest living lyricist that I know of, and Tallahassee continues to build on that reputation. This new album will be right at home with your prior releases by the Mountain Goats or expose you to a whole new world—it is a sound addition no matter what your exposure to the band may be.
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