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Preview Thu Jun 12 2014
Goat In a Trance at Thalia Hall, 6/13
Goat's backstory certainly makes an indelible impression. The band hails from Korpilombolo, a rural village in northern Sweden. Calling Goat a 'band', however, is a slight misnomer, at least compared to how the word is typically defined on blogs like this one. Goat is, in fact, the most recent iteration of a collective of villagers playing together in a communal setting, a tradition in the village that stretches back for 40 years. According to the band, the village was originally a vibrant center of voodoo worship before Christian settlers drove the town's original inhabitants from the land. The band says that those exiled from their homes burdened the new arrivals with a curse that has endured throughout the centuries, a curse that informs the music the band makes today.
Whether one believes the backstory is a sign of the supernatural or an expertly spun tall tale, Goat's enigmatic origins nevertheless grant it an aura of mystery in a time that makes maintaining any secrecy nearly impossible. In our hyper-saturated culture, where it can sometimes feel like the blog post precedes the band itself, Goat is keen on keeping anything that would weaken the mystery of the band at arm's length. It's a feeling that is only further strengthened by the fact that all the performers are clad in masks when they play live.
The incredulity over the band's past can sometimes obscure the music, although it too is appropriately unclassifiable. Plenty of pithy genre phrases come to mind when listening to, and trying to describe, 2012's World Music (the band's only release thus far), but those phrases only better serve to illustrate the band's uniqueness by failing to adequately describe their music at all. Comparisons to Fela Kuti and Funkadelic are oft-stated and understandable, but it's best to listen and decide for yourself.
Goat plays the newly opened Thalia Hall on Friday, June 13th, with openers Holy Wave and Outer Minds. Doors are at 6:30, the show begins at 8, and you can purchase tickets, as well as find out additional information about the show, by visiting the venue's website.
