Here we have the new album from my beloved Mountain Goats. Remember, the last one, „Dark In Here“, was an absolute gem, a highlight in lyrical and musical terms, even for the band‘s high standards. Bleed Out is more straight forwward, inspired by action movies from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, in which Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle found comfort toward the end of 2020. Cozied up in his North Carolina home, Darnielle watched French thrillers like 2008’s Mesrine, vintage Italian Poliziotteschi, and 1974’s The Freakmaker starring Donald Pleasence. Here‘s the song „Make You Suffer“. I highly recommend, after listening to the album two times in a row, to go to one of your favourite action movies from the days of old. In my case, 1968‘s neo-noir action thriller „Bullitt“ with Steve McQueen never fails. „It’s an interesting question, though: can you get emotional depth from things created solely to thrill?“ this is what Michael Hamm writes in his three star review, and I kindly answer: „Yes, you can.“