GOAT

Medicine (Rocket)

Medicine is cult Swedish group Goat’s newest harmonic transformation: bewitching folk-rock that stretches tried and tested psychedelic signifiers. We hear Goat’s classic bellowing female mouthpiece on opener Impermanence & Death which sets the tone for this mind-expanding record. Think Brian Jonestown Massacre crossed with 70s Swedish psych, galvanized by soul-searching spiritualism that makes you want to dance hand-in-hand around a campfire. 

Starting off steady, Raised By Hills takes us through a medieval-era journey, transforming into their synthy futuristic folk haven. Here you feel the leanings of Goat’s recent pagan folk soundtrack to Shane Meadows’ drama The Gallows Pole. Tracks TSOD, You’ll Be Alright, and Tripping In The Graveyard reprise the flute in Medicine’s opening number: a unifying thread in this sometimes-disorienting surrealist medley.

Vakna and I Became The Unemployment Office, too, are true melodic victories. This band never fail to prove their relevance, and Medicine is a certified antidote to your existential angst. 

words TERESA DELFINO