WORLD MUSIC

A strange band for strange times with a not so strange name. Yeah that's GOAT. A collective of musicians that the band claims emerged from the far northern Arctic wonderland of Sweden in a town called Korpilombolo which sits nestled against the Finnish border pondering the existential quandaries of the universe during the long cold and dark winters that grace the far norther regions of Scandinavia. A band that is more psychedelic in its tale telling than in its actual music, leader and head honcho Goatman claims that the band emerged as a result of voodoo being practiced in the hometown for centuries until Christians got wind and burned it to the ground. The survivors who fled cursed the town and all who descended from it.

Also GOAT claims its musical endeavors are a town tradition dating back several decades in which a rotating cast of members has come and gone and sworn not to reveal their identities therefore the band members are shrouded in ambiguity and secrecy donning masks and colorful garb and known for its outrageous live performances. While more steeped in mythology than actual reality the band is currently based out of Gothenburg, Sweden and features two singers, two guitars, an electric bass, a drum kit and African congas and the live shows are energetically infused with dance numbers and crazy mock rituals. The actual date of origin is unknown but one thing is for certain and that the band's debut album WORLD MUSIC hit the scene in 2012 and became an instant hit in its native Sweden.

If only the band's music was as wild as its publicity stunts. It's experimental approach mixes everything from hard rock and psychedelia to jazz, Krautrock and Afrobeat. It's an oddball approach and one that simulates an alternative timeline where Krautrock emerged in Haiti rather than the European continent but who knows. Maybe it did and GOAT used its magic to convince us that reality was really not real at all. Any way you slice it, GOAT is a very bizarre band that delivered a unique mix of psychedelia and an alternate mythos much in the way Christian Vander and Magma invented an entire new paradigm about the fictitious world of Kobaia. While a fairly modern band and the debut only unveiling its cloaked nature in 2012, WORLD MUSIC is a typical album's run of nine tracks and 37 minutes long.

It features a mix of psychedelic guitar fuzz, Afrorock conga playing, female singers delivering African vocal styles, freaky electronica and droning atmospheres. It's a groovy kinda dance music that evokes African ritualistic practices while unleashing hard rock guitar distortion, trippy bass lines and unrelenting rhythmic drive. The entire affair is made even more nuts by the fact that the members dress in distinct traditional garb from around the world including one member in a burka! Gimmicks aside the music is fairly straight forward and not as psychedelic as i had hoped judging from the cover. This is truly an eclectic blend of WORLD MUSIC from around the world but it's not as innovative as the mythologies surrounding the band have become.

This is an interesting album for sure but it boils down to fairly basic repetitive grooves, scattered vocal parts and a bit of guitar heft that occasional allows some fuzz soloing to occur. It's like King Gizzard & The Wizzard Lizard go Afro-rock on us and get all wild and woolly with their dressing habits. It's a fun piece of entertainment and all but it's not really engaging as a pure musical experience in a meaningful way other than serving as a louder than usual form of dance music that captures the essence of a greater ethnic stew. I would've loved to hear some Haitian voodoo chanting or other exotic trippy effects but the album is geared more toward an uninterrupted flow rather than offering any jarring surprises. It's OK but doesn't blow me away.