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  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Front
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  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Front
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Back
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Detail
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Alternate View
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Close-Up
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Side View
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Additional View
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Lifestyle
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Packaging
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - Label
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - View 11
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - View 12
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - View 13
  • The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD) - View 14

The Mountain Goats – Tallahassee (CD)

$ 19.95
$ 19.95
Est. 1974, Curated by Heads
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Product Details

John Darnielle had been writing about the Alpha Couple for years across scattered singles and compilations before finally giving them a proper home, and a slow death, in 2002's Tallahassee. The album marked a turning point in the Mountain Goats' catalog, moving from lo-fi cassette recordings toward fuller production while losing none of the gut-punch intimacy that made Darnielle's songwriting so devastating in the first place.

Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee is completely devoted to two of Darnielle's recurring characters, a married couple constantly on the edge of divorce. As such, the lyrics tend to focus on the dysfunction in their relationship. The couple is known to fans as "the Alpha Couple," as many of the previous songs about them have titles beginning with the word "Alpha" (e.g. "Alpha Incipiens," "Alpha Desperation March"). The final song on the album is titled "Alpha Rats Nest" as a nod of sorts to the other songs. - In the songs on this album, the Alpha Couple move into a house on Southwood Plantation Road in Tallahassee, Florida. The house is falling apart, a metaphor for their crumbling marriage. Sick of themselves and each other, yet unwilling to part, they begin drinking themselves to death.

Tracklist
1. Tallahassee (4:43)
2. First Few Desperate Hours (3:04)
3. Southwood Plantation Road (2:45)
4. Game Shows Touch Our Lives (3:49)
5. The House That Dripped Blood (2:53)
6. Idylls Of The King (3:32)
7. No Children (2:48)
8. See America Right (1:52)
9. Peacocks (3:44)
10. International Small Arms Traffic Blues (2:51)
11. Have To Explode (3:22)
12. Old College Try (2:53)
13. Oceanographer's Choice (4:08)
14. Alpha Rats Nest (2:11)

UPC: 652637221527
Label: 4ad
Release Date: 5.29.20
Format: CD