Goat’s sixth studio record sees the masked Swedish rockers saunter through afrobeat, funk, pastoral folk and more in a psychedelic journey of extreme joy. The result is a record of interstellar overdrive and creative overflow that jinks and zigs and spirals while just about hanging together.
There are some tremendous moments that emerge from the frantic jam. Dollar Bill is a raucous rocker led by a skronky guitar riff that recalls Os Mutantes, developing into a trippy treatise on…well, it’s not exactly clear. It’s noisy, brash and compelling and would get heads nodding and strong craft beer quaffed at a sticky indie club.
Another strong track is the six minute opener One More Death. Here the composition and arrangement land somewhere between Led Zeppelin and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and it takes us to a kind of cosmic cave on a distant planet where you trip balls.
It’s unabashedly experimental, indulgent and throwback. It’s also the kind of music you could show to a pensioner in a Hawkwind T-shirt with surprising success. They would reassure you that “they don’t make this kind of music any more” even as you demonstrated that they literally do.
But the album is not always successful in its vaulting experimentalism. Both Zombie and Ouroboros open with breakbeat loops and pure-sounding voices that recall some of Norman Cook’s pre-Fatboy Slim projects (not the Housemartins). Slightly agonisingly, the dual-tracked vocals sometimes miss their tuning, and the result is (possibly purposefully) a bit nauseating.
As a whole, though, the record is tremendously enjoyable and exactly the kind of salve one would wish for in a music scene where marketing is often the main source of creativity on show. ‘Goat’ offers the alternative to factory-processed, AutoTuned AI filler, stacked high and sold cheap. Our Hawkwind fan friend has a point, but it's nice to see they do make it like they used to...sometimes.
Goat Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu October 24 2024 - LONDON Troxy
Fri October 25 2024 - BRISTOL O2 Academy Bristol
Sat October 26 2024 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy
Thu November 14 2024 - NORWICH UEA
Fri November 15 2024 - OXFORD O2 Academy Oxford
Sat November 16 2024 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
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