Sam Rosenberg, better known as Sam Goblin — that’s Mister Goblin to you, at that — hasn’t stopped making a sound since his beloved post-hardcore band, Two Inch Astronaut, departed back in 2018. Across three full-lengths and a handful of EPs, he’s proven himself a well-learned student of the greater alternative songbook. “Goodnight Sun”, the first listen from his new album, Frog Poems, suggests a much needed rekindled interest in the Michael Stipe songwriting style in particular, penning whimsy through clean, alternative pop-rock flourishes, even if an uncertain darkness lurks right beneath its surface with his D.C. scene influence brimming its inverse of Goodnight Moon. As all things in this life go, those good, stoned out times at the Olive Garden salad bar are just the detour to puking up it all, metaphorically. And if it’s his last day to see the sun, at least he made it count.

Mister Goblin’s Frog Poems will be released April 26th on Spartan Records.