Bleed Out

Revenge is a bit like eating an entire half-gallon of ice cream by yourself -- it may feel good in the moment, but youre almost certain to regret it later on. John Darnielle understands both sides of the equation, and those emotions are at the core of 2022s Bleed Out, the 23rd album from his group the Mountain Goats and a beautifully crafted study of the joys and perils of bad karma. According to Darnielle, hed been watching a lot of thrillers from the 1970s and 80s when he was writing this material, and many of the songs brilliantly evoke that fleeting moment where the protagonist pauses before leaping into the maelstrom. Hes equally conscious of the rush that comes with obeying that impulse -- especially on the roaring "Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome" -- as well as the darkness that comes in the aftermath, as in "Mark on You." Though Bleed Out is primarily focused on the darker side of human emotion, Darnielle never strays far from examining it all through the lens of classic crime cinema. These songs often take the familiar tropes of the genre (titles like "Training Montage," "Extraction Point," and "Need More Bandages" tell you what to expect) and dig into the thoughts and feelings of these standard-issue characters in a way thats smart and unexpected. Exploring the inner lives of people most folks think they know from their surfaces has been one of Darnielles favorite themes on albums like 2015s Beat the Champ and 2017s Goths, and Bleed Out follows a trickier path but proves to be just as eloquent. As good as Darnielles songwriting is -- and it has been consistently great for well over two decades now -- the best script wont work without the right execution, and Bleed Out finds him and his collaborators at the top of their game. His vocals are crisp and impassioned at just the right emotional register, and his band (Peter Hughes on bass and guitar; Matt Douglas on guitar, keys, and sax; and Jon Wurster on drums and percussion) is nothing short of superb, filling out the melodies with taste, smarts, and force. As is often the case in a vintage thriller, the team has also brought in a secret weapon, in this case Alicia Bognanno of the band Bully, who produced the album and adds additional electric guitar and keyboards that boost the ferocity and force of these tracks. Some bands are consistently great in a way that gets just a bit tiring over time as they do the same pleasing thing over and over again. With the Mountain Goats, John Darnielle has created a vehicle where he finds ways to surprise the listener each time out, and Bleed Out is more proof that hes one of the best storytellers indie rock has ever produced. ~ Mark Deming