Album: Goat - Goat | reviews, news & interviews
Album: Goat - Goat
Album: Goat - Goat
Mysterious Scandinavians put on their dancing shoes
With the Pagan festival of Mabon and the Autumnal Equinox only just past us, it seems appropriate for Scandi psychedelic rockers, Goat to provide a soundtrack of celebration as we head towards the colder months. And, as expected, Goatman and his crew have not let us down with their completely wigged out set of funky vibes and transcendent rhythms.
Lively shamanic grooves fill the band’s third album of new songs in as many years, as our favourite mask-wearing mystics channel uplifting, yet primal chants and mind-blowing cosmic jams with some serious verve after last year’s considerably more relaxed Medicine. As ever though, their tunes manage to defy easy classification, drawing from Afrobeat and druggy psychedelia to sweaty funk and Middle Eastern tones. However, it’s all glorious, brain-frying stuff.
From the swaggering and earthy opener, “One More Death” to the intoxicating tripped out rave up of “Ouroboros”, Goat’s musical magpie approach is yet another radical celebration that acknowledges no cultural boundaries, so long as the music is head-spinning, soulful and totally hip-swinging – even taking on hip-hop grooves to fuel the woozy “Zombie” and spaced out East Asian vibes on the cosmic “Fool’s Journey”.
In the main though, Goat’s self-titled new set is about getting up and stomping your feet to sounds that elevate your soul and remove all thoughts of any mundane day-to-day concerns. “Goatbrain”, for one, is a hedonistic celebration that certainly has no truck with quiet contemplation, while “Dollar Bill” is a fuzzed-out revelry and “Frisco Beaver” is all but an instruction to get up and shake your bits. Set closer “Ouroboros”, however, takes things even further out there with a seven-minute crazed trance, powered by baggy grooves and jazzy vibes of total abandon. And that’s something that feels nothing short of essential during these ever-more disturbing times.
rating
Explore topics
Share this article
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
Add comment