Jenny From Thebes [Cassette]

The Mountain Goats - Jenny From Thebes [Cassette]

The Mountain Goats catalog is thick with recurring characters"Jenny, who originally appears in theA All Hail West TexasA track bearing her name, as well as in Straight Six fromA Jam Eater BluesA andA Transcendental YouthA side two jam Night Light, is one of these, someone who enters a song unexpectedly, pricking up the ears of fans who are keen on continuing the various narrative threads running through the Mountain Goats discography before vanishing into the mist. In these songs, Jenny is largely defined by her absence, and she is given that definition by other characters. She is running from something. These features are beguiling, both to the characters whove told her story so far and to the listener. They invite certain questions: Who is Jenny, really? What is she running from? Well, shes a warrior and a thief, and, this being an album by the Mountain Goats, its a safe bet whatever shes fleeing is something bad. SomethingA catastrophicallyA bad. Jenny from ThebesA is the story of Jenny, her southwestern ranch style house, the people for whom that house is a place of safety, and the west Texas town that is uncomfortable with its existence. It is a story about the individual and society, about safety and shelter and those who choose to provide care when nobody else will.