Music – Jeff Hemmings: Goat

With their masks, exotic costumes and generally faceless persona, Goat have also cultivated some kind of myth about their back story, one that involves playing music as children in an isolated Northern Sweden village, as part of a long tradition of communal music making in those parts.

“The elders were playing very rhythmic music with lots of drums and they would sing in an olden type of Swedish,” Goat say about this community tradition. “It is also influenced, as we are, by many other types of music. For example, in the ‘70s, they were influenced by Swedish progressive rock. When we talk about Goat as a musical tradition from our village, part of the tradition is to be very open-minded to music from all parts of the world. We took the name Goat when we were older. There have been previous incarnations of Goat and the music has not been the same in all the years, but it comes from the same musical tradition, and it is why we play like we do.”

It was pancultural as well as polyrhythmic. It was mesmeric, hypnotic stuff.

Goat’s debut album of 2012 was called ‘World Music’, an album that had afro-beat at its heart, along with Jefferson Airplane style psych-rock, post-punk, Turkish rock, desert blues, krautrock, and acid folk in the mix. It was pancultural as well as polyrhythmic. It was mesmeric, hypnotic stuff. They signed a deal and started playing outside their immediate environs for the first time.

Forward to 2016 and their third album, Requiem is a continuation of their sound and collective outlook; an organic, live-sounding mix of electrified freak-outs, unplugged tribal rhythms, and meandering hippy folk. “Psychedelia is music that is free,” say Goat. Go free your mind…

All Saints Church, Monday 17 October, 7pm, £15