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| Headsoup was released in August 2021 on Rocket Recordings. |
Enigmatic Swedish group, Goat's 2021 record, Headsoup, is dripping with 60s psychedelia. It's inescapable.
But that's just the baseline. It's a wild ride. The first half of the record takes on a kind of jam band feel. No, not in that way. It's King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with a world music flare. And while that marriage of psychedelia and world music might evoke Khruangbin, Goat delivers in a different, more African-tinged way with woodblock percussion on "Dreambuilding" or the woodwinds on "Union of Mind and Soul".
"Union" sends things off in a different direction on side B. That King Gizzard foundation remains, but the jam expands. It's like Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony from Wild Flag came over to lay vocals down and Bill Ward and Geezer Butler ducked out on Black Sabbath to add a darker, fuzzier, more brooding layer to that foundation. That heaviness peppers much of the back half of the album but is most apparent on both "Let It Burn - Edit" and "Fill My Mouth," the latter of which may as well also have Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson swooping in with a flute solo. [It sounds that way.]
And if that sort of amalgamation does create enough of vision of a wall of experimental sounds, then Goat also veers off toward free jazz on "Friday, Pt. 1" in between those heavier two tunes toward the end of the record.
Again, it is a wild ride, this album. I think I may have balked at side A on my first listen, but was drawn in once I started hearing Black Sabbath influences seep in as the record progressed. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Headsoup is a nice diversion if you're looking for a solid palate cleanser or just a fun, challenging listen.
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