
On “Jenny from Thebes,” The Mountain Goats offer a sequel to one of their most beloved albums, 2002's “All Hail West Texas." This one has a lot more bells and whistles.
The first album was an intimate, sparse affair with leader John Darnielle doing everything himself: singing, playing acoustic guitar and keyboard, recording it all on a Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox. This time around, he brought in Grammy-winning producer/engineer Trina Shoemaker and a full band: Darnielle, Peter Hughes, Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster. As a result, “Jenny from Thebes” is louder and more energetic than the solitary first record.