Album reviews

Rocket Recordings

Mask-wearing, costume-adorning Swedish psychedelic collective GOAT have always captured imaginations ever since they first arrived in 2012. The intensity and unfamiliarity of their look, sound and attitude made them an exciting band from the start but add to that their wild and hypnotic live performances and it was clear we had a very special band on our hands. After three standout studio albums and two killer live albums, Rocket Recordings now unveil a collection of previously unreleased material from across their career to date and with two brand new tracks. Each GOAT album so far has been far-reaching, but this collection widens the gaze to headfuck proportions. Encapsulating the evolution of their entire career so far, Headsoup moves between the heavy-psych of their early work to the darker, hypnotic grooves that marked 2014’s Commune and onto the cosmic folk of their last album from 2016. The two new tracks have a heavy dose of funk, perhaps offering a tantalising hint at what might be still to come from this explosive outfit. There’s the frenzied psych-rock, ferocious Afrobeat rhythms, tough guitars, desert blues, Ethio-jazz, tropical rhythms, propulsive drums and delirious levels of fuzz, reverb and driving bass all bursting from the speaks as the Swedes deliver a reminder of just how allencompassing their sound remains. A band truly like no other, GOAT have always operated at the extremities and Headsoup celebrates that in all its head-spinning glory. Tom Jones

ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: Relax, Fill My Mouth, Queen of the Underground 9/10