The Alpha Couple is on their last legs in “Alpha Rats Nest” but they aren’t quite finished.

Track: “Alpha Rats Nest”
Album: Tallahassee (2002)

Tallahassee may take some time to process. When you first hear it, you’re probably going to latch on to “No Children.” That’s perfectly normal. The hook in “No Children” is outstanding and it gets across the message of Tallahassee easier than most other tracks. Subsequent listens will probably highlight the rockers. You might like the dance music of “Southwood Plantation Road” or the chugging anger of “See America Right.” It will depend on your mood and relationship status, but all of Tallahassee will eventually seep into you.

Different people like different Mountain Goats albums, but Tallahassee is likely their best and most complete. It’s the journey of one couple (the Alpha Couple) as they drive from California to Florida to spend their married life together. They love each other and hate each other and something in between that’s closer to how people feel at their worst. They try to save their marriage (sort of) but they mostly pour cheap vodka all over it and glare at each other in the heat. They know it’s all over but they’re so in love with the end of it.

John Darnielle says that “Alpha Rats Nest” was always going to be the last song on the album. The strumming makes it feel like a “fun” song, which is fitting for a song about the end and Tallahassee. It’s not just a divorce album, it’s about how this couple thinks even their end must be dramatic. They’ve just been through “Oceanographer’s Choice” and yelled at each other, and there’s still an end to come after “Alpha Rats Nest.” “Sing for the damage we’ve done,” one says, “and the worse things we’ll both do.” Their actual end is too dark to be a song, so it’s fitting that we leave on a questionably “happy” note.