Goat Girl
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
June 10th 2024
Those fine folk at Crash Records bring Goat Girl to the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds to celebrate the release of their new album, Below The Waste. Andy Brown was there to soak up the show for Louder Than War.
A wet summer evening in West Yorkshire just got a whole lot better with the arrival of London-based post-punk outfit, Goat Girl. They’re playing the Brudenell Social Club to celebrate the release of their eagerly awaited third LP. Suffice to say, it was well worth the wait. Below The Waste is an engaging 48-minute trip down the dark country lanes of the band’s collective psyche. The trio employ an eclectic array of instrumentation while co-production by John ‘Spud’ Murphy, a string and woodwind section and a choir add further magic to the mix. I’m excited to hear how the songs will manifest on stage and frankly thrilled to be seeing the band live for the first time in years. Our last encounter was back in 2017 when they played with Ireland’s Gilla Band (then known as Girl Band). We’re long overdue a catch-up.
The night begins with the ominous Where’s UR <3, the exploratory bass line snaking its way through the crowd. While they’re all multi-instrumentalists, this evening sees Lottie Pendlebury on guitar and vocals, Holly Mullineaux on bass and Rosy Jones on drums. A fourth goat has joined the herd in the shape of an organ/ synth player. The additional atmospheric layers really elevate the sound and pull us further into Goat Girl’s world. The Crack comes next, an absolute belter from their underrated 2021 LP, On All Fours. Jones and Mullineaux deliver an irresistibly bouncy, head-nodding groove. The songs rhythmic, idiosyncratic psych serves as an early reminder of the multitude of styles at the band’s disposal.
Of course, tonight is a celebration of Below The Waste and the albums immersive, moonlit mood. Ride Around hits hard with some raw, Albini-worthy guitar tones and haunting three-way harmonies. There’s a Breeders-like vibe here that works a treat. Pendlebury asks us if we know who co-produced the album and jokes that we “failed the test” when no one replies. Curses! I couldn’t blurt the name out in time but Murphy is most certainly worthy of an album launch shout out. It’s a really special album and Goat Girl know how to bring those songs to life. The band haven’t got a choir hidden up their sleeves and they aren’t swopping instruments every five seconds yet the songs remain impossibly cool and brimful of mystery.
Play It Down leads us further into the night as Pendlebury sings about being, “lost and never found.” The harmonies and bass line are absolutely immaculate. It’s one of those sets where I could quite happily close my eyes for the duration and let the songs take me away (alas, it’s impossible to make notes with my eyes shut). Dreamy guitar and the twinkling of chimes lead us into the effortlessly melancholic haze of Words Fell Out. A tender and intimate bit of songwriting. Suddenly, the groove kicks in with the arrival of Sad Cowboy from the last album. A consistently impressive drummer, Jones is in full swing: driving the song forward with a limber, rock ‘n’ roll groove. It all ends with house-like synths, cowboy guitar and an endlessly danceable beat. I’d gladly listen to that groove for the next hour.
Pendlebury ditches the guitar and Mullineaux switches to second synth as the post-punks embrace their inner Kraftwerk for Motorway. Another string to their ever-expanding sonic bow, the track utilises a more overtly electronic sound to create something darkly euphoric. Synth-pop that evokes sleepless nights, long drives and caffeine-fueled, dancing in lay-bys. All of this from the comfort and warmth of the Brudenell Social Club. “It’s cursed!” jokes Pendlebury when the opening to Tonight goes slightly awry. “It’s cursed because it’s beautiful” counters Jones. Curse aside, I have to agree, it’s really quite beautiful. The same could be said for Perhaps, a song infused with starry-eyed intrigue. The track ends in a mediative wave of ambient drone, the band happy to stray off the path into uncharted territory.
The four-piece unleash a fiery, impromptu riff-based rocker before leading us ever further into the trees. Starting with some creaky, ill-omened drones, Sleep Talk proceeds to wrap us up in a thick, oily cloud of sound. Cascading guitars, pining vocals and the occasional anguished scream. A passionate and powerful song. Goat Girl bring the curtain down with Wasting, the closing track from the new album. The song veers between a slumberous, almost doom-rock sensibility and something far more melancholy. The night is over in the blink of an eye but it’s been one hell of a re-introduction. An album that hits new creative peaks and a band that have travelled through the dark to re-emerge stronger than ever. 2024 is definitely the year of the goat!
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Goat Girl can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/ X and Bandcamp.
Buy Below The Waste from Crash Records HERE.
Read my review of the album HERE.
All words by Andy Brown. You can visit his author profile and read more of his reviews for Louder Than War here.
All photos by Neil ‘Unholy Racket’ Chapman – Facebook, Twitter/ X and Instagram.
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