If you’re picking this up, by now you probably know the drill, John Darnielle lo-fi turned full Merge studio, acoustic guitars mostly with high production values, nasally vocals, strong lyrics, and tons of instruments and effects. If I had to name a theme for the album it would be anti-suicide, but the non-suicidal could probably get a life-ain’t-that-bad vibe out of it

*1 (2:28) Riffy acoustic guitar, loads of advice/support here for the angsty who haven’t become completely cynical by now. “Just stay alive,� probably defining some kid’s high school
2 (3:59) Slow, piano ballad, most likely about drug abuse and most likely with a shout out to Elliott Smith in it
*3 (3:14) Brassy, upbeat track about crippling hopelessness and angst with bonus religious metaphors
*4 (3:25) One of the big promo tracks, upbeat/acoustic (with a bit of vitriol) about the tragic life of child star Frankie Lymon. Great entry in the Mountain Goats’ canon, almost certain to be what people remember from this album
5 (3:06) Piano, slow, quiet, sorta sappy with the backing synth/strings. About acceptance
6 (2:50) Get Lonely feel to this one, with some weird distorted/echoey background vox.
7 (4:01) Tense, whirring, old-school MGs material with new school production “Jenny,� someone you’ll never see again
*8 (2:47) Piano with a doo-wop feel drives the song, vocals follow; organized crime feel
9 (2:24) Bouncy, slow, kinda whiny; not liking how things come together
10 (4:03) Slow, lots of piano, bass, and synth/strings. A rarity, for me, in the Goats’ catalog that no sense of desperation in the music sticks out; music fully complements the lyrics here
11 (2:53) Not bad, but it’s just acoustic guitar+drums/stay alive theme, no real reason for it to be the one song you play on radio from this
**12 (4:12) Piano, drums, bass and brass (mostly brass). Jazzy feel, grabbing a cigarette at 9 AM under a rainy balcony, though song structure is purely pop.