Review Summary: A swift and fulfilling introduction to the collective's wicked sound with a couple of surprises.
Rejoice, pagan worshippers and sinners alike! The Goat is back with sounds you might have missed, sounds that you definitely missed and want to revisit, and a couple of new tracks that sit among the best material the collective has ever gifted to their flock. UK label and perennial home to the Sweds, Rocket Recordings, has put up a nice and hefty compilation with b-sides, singles, alternate versions and two new tracks that serve as both a pretty good entry to the band and a nicely packed release for all-time devotees.
For those that somehow have managed to avoid the wonderfully intoxicating touch of the masked ensemble for almost ten years, Goat is a collective of voodoo witches and sonic sorcerers that practice a form of psychedelic vintage fuzz rock whose shows (or rituals) are unmistakably hard to forget. Hailing from Sweden's northern region of Korpilombo (legends say the town is cursed to hell and back), the collective unleashed
World Music in 2012, which granted them instant praise all around the globe and set them for another two releases,
Communion in 2014 and their most recent work,
Requiem, in 2016. Obviously, the ominous title of their last record and a long five years absence would make you think the band was done for, and I would have thought so had not this compilation included "Fill My Mouth" and "Queen of the Underground", two new cuts that lit the flames of hope of a new full-length on the horizon.
In trying to show you, dear reader and potential vinyl snatcher, what's what in
Headsoup, let me try to bury you with some dates and facts so you know more or less what you're getting. The comp opens with "The Sun and The Moon". This fast-paced kraut rock wonder is the oldest track here (actually I think the whole thing goes chrono). It was a single released on numbered cassette in 2012 alongside the track "Goathead" on the B side, which I think it might be among the first music officially released by the band back then. Continuing the ritual, we have "Stonegoat" and "Dreambuilding", which were released in 2013 as a double-side A single after the release of
World Music. They also served as a bridge to the band's second album
Communion, which was to be released the following year.
Further down there’s "Dig My Grave", which was released also through Rocket Recordings together with a remix of "Hide From the Sun", cooked by California based producer and musician Al Lover. After releasing
Communion, Rocket also released the ultra-hippie hymn "It's Time For Fun" along the aptly soothing instrumental "Relax". These two tracks are in my opinion the weakest link of the compilation although I have to admit “Relax” has a sweet bass groove which serves as a nice interlude. That been said, it's easy to see why it wasn't included in any of their full-lengths. "Union of Mind and Soul" was one of the harbingers of the band's third album,
Requiem, and it was the second single, released after "I Sign in Silence". The version included here is actually different from the album's opening track, “Union of Mind and Moon". This version seems to be the original version of the song, which features a slightly different approach to the vocals.
Deeper into the depths of this mind-numbing soup lies the sumptuous instrumental "The Snake of Addid Ababa", which as you would expect from the title, it would make a Cobra headed sphynx serve you a Martini on an Egyptian clandestine terrace bar. This track served as the B side of the afore mentioned "I Sing in Silence". The lengthy and exhilarating "Goatfuzz" was included in
Requiem, but this seems to be the single version of the track. "Let it Burn" served as the soundtrack for the film "Killing Gävle" by Joe Fletcher, a sort of documentary about the famous Gävle Goat which, according to the information on the band's Bandcamp, it tells the story of "local custodians of Gävle [who] try to protect a giant straw goat that is built for the town every Christmas [from] being burnt down by mischievous pagans". Extremely fitting, I know. The jazzy "Friday Pt.1" was also included as the B side of that single.
And brace yourselves because here comes the fire: two new tracks make this compilation all the worthwhile, with the devilish funk of "Fill My Mouth" being one of the best tracks the band has ever released, and the creeping incantation of "Queen of the Underground" wrapping up this collection of essentials from the Swedish collective.
