The saxophone is the star on “Guys on Every Corner,” which will have you looking over your shoulder.

Track: “Guys on Every Corner”
Album: Bleed Out (2022)

I grew up among folks who wanted to play music. Some of my best friends in middle and high school played upright bass, jazz piano, and various horns. I’ll never forget some of those shows after hours in karate dojos and nearly defunct clubs watching people who, largely, would not go on to make music professionally but were essentially superheroes to those of us with no talent for it. I wanted to write the words. I’ve always been more interested in lyrics than music. That said, the awe comes through just the same.

Matt Douglas has changed the Mountain Goats. The sound is “full” now, for lack of a better term, and you hear it on songs like “Guys on Every Corner,” which would not be the same without the horns. If this series has a goal, it’s to get you to go to a show. I saw Matt Douglas completely transform “Maize Stalk Drinking Blood” many years ago and it converted me from one of those guys who loves the Goats best when it’s just John Darnielle stomping and yelling. The joy now is in the spectrum: sometimes the solo stuff, sometimes the full orchestra.

“Guys on Every Corner” is most surprising in that it is so tight. It’s a song with a saxophone solo that’s three minutes long. In such limited space, Douglas still blows the doors off and takes over what is essentially an extended threat. “They look like nothing // they look like your neighbors” becomes ominous given the circumstances, but the horns really make you want to punch your fists into your pockets and try to get the hell out of there.