Goat – Goat

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Goat – Goat

★★★★

Released October 11th, 2024 on Rocket Recordings

Sweden’s Goat are a different kind of band. On one end of the spectrum there are bands that have no mystery whatsoever. They play in jeans and t-shirts, look like they haven’t showered in weeks, and are interchangeable from one another. Then there are bands like Goat, who revel in mystery to the point where it’s difficult to name a single member of the band. Christian Johansson used to give interviews on behalf of the band back in the day, but is he even a member of Goat anymore? Maybe. Maybe not. Goat don’t give names and they don’t show their faces. Instead, they wear masks from a variety of global cultures, a nod to the fact that they borrow from the music of those cultures to build their sound.

That sound changes a bit from album to album. This year’s self-titled entry into their discography switches from the pastoral psych-folk of their last record. Here, live and loud, is Blue Oyster Cult by way of afrobeat, hip hop, and deep Seventies funk. It’s a record obsessed with movement, and with guitar work that ranges from chunky riffing to slashing solos. Equal parts Fela Kuti, Parliament/Funkadelic, and Black Sabbath, Goat is the psych stoner album par excellence.

“Dollar Bill” is a nasty little stomper, and “Frisco Beaver” conjures up the Dead while bordering on a sort of Afrobeat/punk rock combo. “Zombie” has a sound that’s most of the way to prime West Coast gangsta. The last track, “Ouroboros”, sounds like the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” if it was longer, and better. If you grew up as a rockist with taste, or you developed wider taste after binging on hard rock as a kid, Goat is going to be exactly what you’re looking for. It’ll start the party. Hell, it’ll end the party hours later, soaked in sweat and tripping crazy.

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