Ever wanted to go to the movies with The Mountain Goats? Now you can with their forthcoming album Bleed Out, which is an ode to the nostalgic action movies of the 60s, 70s and 80s. The album, which is entirely produced by Bully’s Alicia Bognanno, arrives Aug. 19 via Merge Records.
The album’s first single, “Training Montage,” opens with a familiar guitar strum and John Darnielle’s homely croon. The song quickly explodes into power-pop goodness as Darnielle asserts “I’m doing this for revenge,” laying down the soundtrack for a handsome action hero to plow down every obstacle in his way. The band’s pent-up energy releases itself in a triumphant display of heroism, passion and excitement.
Speaking further on the album’s concept, Darnielle explained:
So, heads up. I got this idea to write a bunch of songs where they were all uptempo mini-action movies. Plots, characters, heists, hostages, questionable capers, getaway cars, all that stuff. Gas pedal glued to the floor. Eventually as you might guess I wanted at least one song where the tempo relaxed a little and that’s the title track but otherwise buckle up. We hid out in the woods in Chapel Hill and made this album with nobody knowing about it. Proper secret-soldier style. It has been pretty hard keeping this under our hats, we are really proud of what we got here. Alicia Bognanno produced & played with us, and the great Shani Gandhi mixed. The first single is “Training Montage” which does what it says on the tin, and you can preorder the album now, and as for tour dates…you know we gotta bring these uptempo jams to a stage near you at the earliest possible convenience.
Below, watch the video for “Training Montage” and keep scrolling for complete details of Bleed Out, which you can preorder here. You can revisit our guide to The Mountain Goats here.
Bleed Out Artwork
Bleed Out Tracklist
1. Training Montage
2. Mark on You
3. Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome
4. Extraction Point
5. Bones Don’t Rust
6. First Blood
7. Make You Suffer
8. Guys on Every Corner
9. Hostages
10. Need More Bandages
11. Incandescent Ruins
12. Bleed Out
