Tallahassee

Tallahassee is the first album by the Mountain Goats to be released on a larger independent label, 4AD. It is also the first of their albums to include a full band, as opposed to earlier releases that were just John Darnielle with occasional backing vocals/bass.

The album name “Tallahassee”–the capital city of Florida–follows a Mountain Goats tradition of naming songs and albums after geographical places. See for example “Going to…” songs or their previous album, All Hail West Texas.

Thematically, Tallahassee unpacks the lives of the “alpha couple”, a pair of self-destructive alcoholics in a damaged and damaging relationship.

The songs “No Children” and “Old College Try” both featured in the Adult Swim animated series Moral Orel.