my record got delivered last friday so i've been listening for a week, and i just can't get enough of it

after the solemnly gorgeous Transcendental Youth (my personal favorite goats album), Beat the Champ introduced us to a fresh, vivacious, rock-oriented flavor of the band, and aside from a couple of detours (Goths Pierre Chuvin), they continued to flesh out this style on In League with Dragons, Getting Into Knives, and Dark in Here

i think Bleed Out is really the culmination of this direction for the band. there's a sense of urgency and energy throughout, even on the couple slower songs, that just pumps you up in the best way. the sequencing works really well, opening with the absolutely invigorating ass-kicking of Training Montage, and closing with the beautifully self-aware finale of Bleed Out, and i never find myself getting bored or wanting to skip tracks

i've always dearly loved Beat the Champ not only for its lineup of front-to-back absolute bangers, but also because i think john has a really strong grasp on what makes a good concept album, and that's again put on display here - the consistent overarching theme is showcased through a variety of lenses that do a wonderful job both of painting vividly detailed, hyper-specific scenes and of universalizing those scenes and making them relatable

it's still fresh, but tentatively, i'm putting Bleed Out in my top 5 tMG albums. hope everyone else is enjoying release day and getting as much of a kick out of these songs as i am!