Tallahassee (album)

Tallahassee is the seventh studio album by the Mountain Goats. It was the band's second new album to be released in 2002, and it marked quite a few changes. After releasing records (and cassettes) on small record labels such as Shrimper, Ajax, and Emperor Jones, Tallahassee was the first Mountain Goats album to be released on a widely known independent label, the British alternative rock label 4AD. It was also the first Mountain Goats album to have an official single released, for the song "See America Right."

Tallahassee is the first record to feature what could be considered a full "band," with fuller instrumentation and a percussion section. Up to this point, most recordings under the Mountain Goats name have either been solo recordings by leader John Darnielle or higher-quality recordings featuring Rachel Ware on bass, and other supporting instrumentalists. On Tallahassee, Darnielle is joined by two past collaborators, multi-instrumentalists Peter Hughes and Franklin Bruno. It was co-produced, recorded, and mixed by producer Tony Doogan at Tarbox Studios in Cassadaga, New York, assisted by Michael Ivins of The Flaming Lips. The album was recorded in six days.

Story
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.

The album's liner notes, presumably written from the husband's point of view, add another dimension to the story, as does the album's (now defunct) promotional website, written by Darnielle and designed by his wife Lalitree.

Reception
Although the online music magazine Pitchfork gave Tallahassee a mixed review upon release, stating that "Darnielle's apparent phobia for full-band arrangements prevents the music from keeping pace with the storylines", it later included the album at number 176 on their 2009 list of top 200 albums of the 2000s. The album also received positive reviews from websites such as PopMatters and Dusted.

The songs "No Children" and "Old College Try" were featured in the Moral Orel episodes "Numb" and "Help" respectively. The song "No Children" was also featured in the series finale of You're the Worst.

In 2021, "No Children" became a meme on TikTok where people performed a choreographed interpretive dance to the lyrics of the chorus.

Personnel

 * John Darnielle: guitar, vocal, bells, keys, xylophone, harmonica
 * Peter Hughes: bass, guitar, harmony vocal, drums, keys, shaker
 * Franklin Bruno: guitar on "See America Right," piano on "Have to Explode" and "No Children"
 * Michael Ivins: tambourine on "Southwood Plantation Road"