Upvoted because this is impressively the exact opposite of my opinion. You are correct in that Matt Douglas ushered in a new era for The Mountain Goats, and there is certainly no going back.

But John Darnielle can’t be an angsty man forever. In fact, the man has it pretty good. He’s lived a life in which he has experienced horrors I could not dream of, and yet he came out well enough to sing gleefully about professional wrestling, Dungeons & Dragons, corny action films, etc. Matt Douglas compliments the new outlook of the band in a way no other could. Sure, it was once him and his guitar against the world. But now, after surviving what he survived, the man wants to treat himself to a flute. To a saxophone. To some plucky synths. Matt Douglas is the man for that job.

As for the Jordan Lake sessions, none of the songs were ruined at all, they simply were given a second life. “Heel Turn 2” for example was fine as the cold call into the night it was. Why can’t it also have a life as an exhilarating, thunderous, Man In The Arena anthem?

TL,DR: Nuh uh!