Puberty 2

**Puberty 2** is the fourth album by American artist Mitski, released on June 17th 2016 through the label Dead Oceans.

## Background

Where on previous album *Bury Me at Makeout Creek* there was a strong focus on how songs could be written to be performed live at small DIY and punk venues, Mitski has said that when writing *Puberty 2:*

> "I wasn’t thinking so much about whether I could play it live anymore. I was thinking more about how I could make these recordings good for what they are, and I knew that I could always just recreate a different version live."
>
>

Thus leading to slightly more varied instrumentation through the album.
Lyrically, focus also shifted towards the use of characters and metaphors (which would become even more prominent on subsequent record *Be the Cowboy*)- Mitski has commented on this, saying:

> "I feel, lyrically, I used a lot more metaphors and a lot more characters than I did before [...] all the perspectives are still mine, but I think I’m just becoming more aware of the layers of who I am. No one is just one person, no one is just one feeling. [...] sometimes the best way to convey an emotion isn’t just to straightforwardly describe it, but to imply it through metaphor or use characters. There’s a quote that goes like, *fiction is closer to truth than nonfiction*, and I think that with this record, I focused more on finding the essence of whatever I’m feeling and describing it so that it’s more about that essential emotion rather than my personal one."
>
>

## Singles

**Your Best American Girl** - March 1st 2016, alongside album announcement

**Happy** - May 3rd 2016

## Music videos

**Your Best American Girl** - Directed by Zia Anger, starring Tyler Gardella (as "Bro"), Candace Bryant (as "Babe"), and Mitski (as Mitski). Premiered April 13th 2016.

**Happy** - Directed by Maegan Houang, starring Lisa Maley, Andrew Chlon, Kirra Moon, and Elizabeth Leibowitz. Premiered May 23rd 2016.

**A Burning Hill** - Directed by So Yong Kim and Bradley Rust Gray, filmed and edited by Bradley Rust Gray, starring Mitski. Premiered October 11th 2016.

## Critical Reception

*Puberty 2* has a score of 87/100 from 22 aggregated critic reviews on Metacritic, indicating universal acclaim.

## Physical Releases

Puberty 2 was issued on CD, cassette, and vinyl through Dead Oceans; along with a deluxe bundle which included:

* *Puberty 2* on white vinyl
* *Puberty 2* on CD in 6-panel wallet
* Three antique plated 1" pins representing the phases of the moon, full moon, crescent moon, and new moon (new moon pin is inscribed with album title)
* A 11"x17" poster
* A digital download code for the album

A CD with bonus tracks as well as a red/white split vinyl pressing with the standard tracklist were issued exclusively in Japan, later in the year a club exclusive red transparent vinyl would be released in December. In 2017 300 copies on transparent yellow vinyl were issued by Newbury Comics. On January 29th 2020 a Turntable Labs exclusive peach swirl vinyl (limited to 600 copies) with updated liner notes was released. In February 2022 a white cassette varient was released exclusively through Retrospekt. On July 26th 2023 a Urban Outfitters exclusive gold vinyl (limited to 5000 copies) was released. In August 2023 the white vinyl variant was repressed.

Back coverCDGolden CassetteWhite CassetteStandard black vinylDeluxe BundleWhite vinylRed/white split vinylTranslucent red vinylTranslucent yellow vinylPeach swirl vinylUrban Outfitters exclusive gold vinyl
## Credits

Music, Performance, Album Art - Mitski

Performance, Production, Mastering, Photography - Patrick Hyland

## Trivia

* *Thursday Girl* features prominently in *Sitting*, the short film that Mitski acted in
* *Thursday Girl* also features in Season 3 Episode 2 of *Supergirl*
* The click track can still heard at the beginning of *Your Best American Girl* (turn volume up and it's quite clear)
* *Your Best American Girl* features on the soundtracks for 2018 movie *Hearts Beat Loud* and 2019 Netflix original movie *Someone Great*
* Mitski revealed her viewership of a fancam set to *Thursday Girl* of Kendall Roy from *Succession* in 2021.
* The font on the album cover is *Edwardian Script ITC*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.stereogum.com/1874145/qa-mitski-goes-back-to-her-roots-on-puberty-2/franchises/interview/
2. ↑ http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/HSE-6090
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170818072720/http://deadoceans.com/blog/2016/03/album-announce-mitski-announces-puberty-2-out-june-17th-on-dead-oceans/
4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170612184329/http://deadoceans.com/blog/2016/05/listen-mitski-shares-new-single-happy-2/
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u\_hDHm9MD0I&list=PLVlMM20GjzDI7JV2YZbpXg5BI61OfX4ro&index=3
6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ0O2vDT0VE&list=PLVlMM20GjzDI7JV2YZbpXg5BI61OfX4ro&index=7
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ffnue9zMEY
8. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/music/puberty-2/mitski
9. ↑ https://music.avclub.com/the-a-v-club-s-20-best-albums-of-2016-1798255452
10. ↑ https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/11/the-50-best-albums-of-2016.html
11. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9989-the-20-best-rock-albums-of-2016/?page=1
12. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9980-the-50-best-albums-of-2016/?page=4
13. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-2010s/
14. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-best-albums-of-2016-119690/mitski-puberty-2-2-120982/
15. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20161116015644/https://roughtrade.com/albums-of-the-year
16. ↑ https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/opinion/albums-of-the-year/top-50-albums-of-2016
17. ↑ https://www.stereogum.com/featured/the-50-best-albums-of-2016/
18. ↑ https://time.com/4577061/top-10-best-albums-2016/
19. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160306192300/http://store.deadoceans.com/index.php?catalog=DOC123
20. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230530183622/https://www.secretlystore.com/puberty-2-mitski
21. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170417034526/https://www.secretlystore.com/puberty-2-mitski
22. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20201112040519/https://www.newburycomics.com/collections/exclusive-vinyl/products/mitski-puberty\_2\_exclusive\_lp?variant=43310283468
23. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230517065601/https://www.turntablelab.com/products/mitski-puberty-2-peach-colored-vinyl-vinyl-lp-turntable-lab-exclusive
24. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230821210435/https://retrospekt.com/products/mitski-puberty-2-2016-cassette-tape
25. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230821210104/https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/mitski-puberty-2-limited-lp?category=SEARCHRESULTS&color=070&searchparams=q%3Dmitski&type=REGULAR&size=ONE%20SIZE&quantity=1
26. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJnqP5enor4
27. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shW7yDjWIAI
28. ↑ http://songexploder.net/mitski
29. ↑ https://crackmagazine.net/article/profiles/mitski-cover-story-new-album-laurel-hell-interview/