Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 here they are: "Cold at Night" by The Mountain Goats:  A song that was released last month but that I'm just starting to get to know now...it only figures The Mountain Goats would release something on Halloween month, right?! I mean with titles like "Damn These Vampires," "Up the Wolves," and "Werewolf Gimmick," The Mountain Goats run the gamut when it comes to "spooky" titles and topics. "Cold at Night" fits right along with that. The song also has a bit more of a rock sound than fans of the Goats' normally folk-rock-y music might be used to, but it still lands roughly in that indie-folk-ish patch. I'm surprised there isn't "fandom rivalry" between The Mountain Goats and The Decemberists, given how both were mid-'00s indie-folk-rock groups who often sing about dark subject matter over sweet folk-rock-y melodies. "Cold at Night" totally lands in that Decemberists-ish spot with its tale ...

 here they are: "Downstairs" by Matt Maeson:  Matt Maeson's work is usually guitar-oriented, but it often goes more towards folk-rock than it does electric guitar-based material. This is what makes his latest song, "Downstairs," stand out from his other material! The song starts out with just Matt's vocals and the electric guitar by themselves before it crescendoes to full-band instrumentation during the chorus. The title seems to be metaphorical, too, suggesting an escape from the world when everything goes wrong. Although clearly rooted in an indie-pop sound, there's something almost post-grunge-y about how "Downstairs" is set up with its soft-but-about-to-break verses and more explosive (but still relatively calm) chorus. "Enough" by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco):  In this midtempo folk/country-rock tune, Wilco's lead singer poses a tough question at the very start of this song: "Has it ever been enough? Has it ever been OK?" T...