Full disclosure, the band I am in have been on a couple of bills with Goat Monsoon so I have met them and thought they were great guys but don’t really know them. With that in mind I highly recommend you go and see them live coz they got great energy and big ol’ riffs.
This 4 track E.P. does them justice – the rough and ready production suits their raw high octane stoner rawk. There is more than a passing resemblance to mid era Orange Goblin but why the fuck not? It’s a big old groovy sound that blows smoke up any passing bell bottoms.
The opening track “Pills” was released as a single last year and opens with a dirty old hip shaker of a riff and drummer/vocalist Mike (a rare thing these days but more common in the sludgier side of things it seems eh Tuskar?) straddling the line between clean grunge and raspy stoner with his larynx. Things roll along nicely and predictably in a good way before slowing to a proper dirty sludge ending coated in black tar and lung cheese. Lovely.
“Godforsaken” is driven by drums over the top of the riffage of Ben Wilson and Charlie Staples – the track is born from the classic desert rock womb with a little pub rock grunge on the side but again erupts into extremity towards the end with a cacophony of chaos. I can’t decide whether I love its intrusion or it spoils the head down groove of the track – but then that means I have to listen again so they must be doing summat right.
The title track continues in the same vein centred round a big old riff with Mike and bassist Evil Stu holding the fort down. It’s got Desertfest wrote through its DNA like a piece of seaside (stoner) rock. The final of the four tracks “Lord of the Hive” starts pretty damn heavy with vocal stylings that remind me of the much missed Bad Guys (check out Bad Guynaecology). The track barrels along with a bit of ZZ Top boogie and a dirty old refrain that builds and builds.
Goat Monsoon have managed to capture their live vibe within this recording and the stench of a beer soaked roadhouse venue leaks from every pore.
It’s good groovy grungy fun.
(7.5/10 Matt Mason)
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