Bury Me at Makeout Creek: Mitski Gets Milhoused

I've seen a lot of people talking about Puberty 2, the new album from Mitski, over the past couple of weeks. Apparently it's very good - I'd love to throw my hot take into the mix, but sadly I haven't got around to picking up my copy of Puberty 2 from Spillers yet.

Instead, I'd like to talk about Mitski's previous album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek. 

This was one of the albums on that long list of recommendations I received from my survey respondents last month, and I really love it - it's dramatic, emotive, and it rocks. Here's my favourite track, First Love / Late Spring:

One of the many things I like about Bury Me at Makeout Creek is the fact that its name is a Simpsons quotation. More specifically, it's a Milhouse Van Houten quotation: Bart Simpson's blue-haired, bespectacled best friend delivers the line after being hit by a bus in the episode Faith Off.

Now, I considered writing a big, albumwally analysis of Bury Me at Makeout Creek and how Mitski Miyawaki is secretly singing from the point of view of Milhouse himself. Or possibly Milhouse's future girlfriend. Or maybe a twentysomething Milhouse who is now in a romantic relationship with Bart. As you can see, though, I couldn't quite make up my mind on what angle I wanted to approach this from.

Still, I remain convinced that Milhouse is in this album somewhere. so what I've decided to do is select a key lyric from each of Makeout Creek's ten tracks and accompany each one with a fitting picture of Milhouse from the awesome frinkiac.com. Please enjoy, and hopefully I'll have some proper thoughts to share with you once I've listened to Puberty 2 a few times.

Track 1: Texas Reznikoff

"But I've been anywhere, and it's not what I want, I wanna be still with you"

Track 2: Townie

"I'm holding my breath with a baseball bat, though I don't know what I'm waiting for"

Track 3: First Love / Late Spring

"One word from you and I would jump off of this ledge I'm on, baby - tell me "don't" so I can crawl back in"

Track 4: Francis Forever

"I look up at the gaps of sunlight, I miss you more than anything"

Track 5: I Don't Smoke

"If you need to be mean, be mean to me, I can take it and put it inside of me"

Track 6: Jobless Monday

"He only loves me when there's a means he means to end"

Track 7: Drunk Walk Home

"Fuck you and your money, I'm tired of your money"

Track 8: I Will

"I will take good care of you, I will take good care of you"

Track 9: Carry Me Out

"I drive when it rains, at night when it rains I drive, and the headlight spirits, they lead me down the Styx, so black it shines"

Track 10: Last Words of a Shooting Star

"I am relieved that the turbulence wasn't forecasted, I couldn't have changed anyway"

Bury Me at Makeout Creek is available to buy from Mitski's Bandcamp page. If you enjoyed this, you may also want to check out the Milhouse-inspired all-emo playlist that was recently featured on The Grey Estates.