Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Goat Girl

Goat Girl

Label: Rough Trade Release Date: 06/04/2018

105510
domgourlay by Dom Gourlay April 10th, 2018

Hailing from South London with a moniker inspired by one of Bill Hicks' most controversial (some might say grotesque) characters, Goat Girl don't beat about the bush when it comes to making their intentions clear. Their self-titled debut might reference their native city in many ways, but this really is no Ray Davies or Damon Albarn affected homage. Goat Girl documents what it's like to be a young woman living in a downtrodden, debt ridden, post-Brexit capital where divisions by class, race and gender persist all too evidently.





Having formed three years ago after a chance meeting at Brixton's legendary Windmill venue, the four-piece have since emerged as one of the brightest hopes in the UK's supposedly dying guitar scene. Alongside the likes of Sorry, Good Bad Happy Sad and Shame, they're carrying a pos- Fat Whites torch for a musical underground reared on bitterness and fed up of the rigours imposed by another Tory government. So in retaliation, the four Goat Girls - Lottie (vocals & guitar), Ellie (guitar), Naima (bass) and Rosy (drums) - have spent their formative years constructing a bunch of songs borne out of frustration with their lot, yet not exclusive to their own backyard either. Songs many of us can relate to, and in turn created one of the most potent debuts this year.

Goat Girl might be 19 tracks long but don't let that put you off. At just 40 minutes in length it doesn't stick around long enough to incur tedium, and what's more, each of its consistent parts makes for an explosive whole that demands repeat listens. Recorded with the increasingly reputable Dan Carey in his Streatham based studio, Goat Girl represents another exquisite addition to a catalogue of work making him one of the most sought after producers in the business right now.

Although not a million miles from their live sound in many ways, the addition of an introduction that could double as a title sequence to a Stephen King thriller ('Salty Sounds') and four interlude segments including a spoken word monologue ('A Swamp Dogs Tale') and what sounds like the backdrop to a Seventies kitchen sink drama ('Hank's Theme') among them works wonders in this context. Creating its own little nether world around the bigger picture Goat Girl create through their observational diatribes that range from the obscene ('Creep') to the laconic ('I Don't Care (Parts 1 & 2)').

'Burn the Stake' pulls no punches with its lyrical snapshot of those in power and who put them there following a similar path to early b-side 'Scum' which tackled the notion of Brexit eighteen months earlier. Meanwhile, 'Creep' and its depiction of a "creep on the train with his dirty trousers stained" is scathing in delivery, the unwelcome attention of its subject sadly an all too unwelcome occurrence many females encounter every day.

Former singles 'Cracker Drool' and 'Country Sleaze' fit succinctly with the more reflective likes of 'Viper Fish' ("Don't shed a tear, please don't bear me of the shame") and 'Lay Down', which bears all the hallmarks of a lost Syd Barrett outtake. Not to mention current 45 'The Man', its tale of love and loss erupting in just over three minutes making it Goat Girl's most exhilarating outburst. Indeed, while there's an undoubted comparative link to the other, aforementioned bands from Goat Girl's neck of the woods, much of this record is reminiscent of Rhode Island indie rockers Throwing Muses and in particular their 1989 opus The Real Ramona. While others recall Surfer Rosa era Pixies, particularly the vitriolic 'Little Liar', a post-millennial transatlantic cousin to Frank Black and co's 'Bone Machine'.





Closing with a downbeat version of a song originally released as part of the 1976 movie 'Bugsy Malone'. 'Tomorrow' perhaps sums up Goat Girl's exasperation with their surroundings more than anything else on this record. Restrained almost to the point of giving up, there's an underlying optimism that suggests something better is just around the corner. And I guess no one can ask for anything more than that.

![105510](http://dis.resized.images.s3.amazonaws.com/540x310/105510.png)
  • 8
    Dom Gourlay's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees


  • A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash


  • Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019



Left-arrow

Manic Street Preachers

Resistance is Futile

Mobback
105507
105512

Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135

    Festival Review


    25 years of SPOT Festival: DiS Picks Its Best 11

  • 106134
  • Festival Review


    Twelve Hours Of Drone Is Just The Beginning: Di...

  • 106133
MORE


    review


    Reverend And The Makers - @Reverend_Makers

  • 93547
  • feature


    The National: "We nearly lost our minds making ...

  • 30199

    news


    RIP: the Neu-Kraut scene

  • 28881
  • news


    Brian May in DiS-hating shocker!

  • 20986

    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Staff-generated


    Reviewed: Shut Up And Play the Hits a documenta...

  • 83336

    DiScussion


    Guyliners: Why Do UK Festivals Have So Few Fema...

  • 97325
  • news


    My Chemical Supergrass: Gerard Way and Gaz Coom...

  • 98527
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2021 DROWNED IN SOUND