Goose

One Liner: Jam band goofy goodness

Wikipedia Genre: Rock, progressive rock, funk, psychedelic rock, jam band
Home: Wilton, CT

Poster Position: 4
Both Weekends.  Sunday.

Thoughts:  I have a feeling that I am close to alone in the way that I discovered Goose a few years ago, because it is quite honestly really a weird thing.  We'll go back to the beginning.  And in the beginning, Vampire Weekend released a song called 2021, on the album Father of the Bride.  Pretty good song.  The guitar solo in the center sounds like some classical song I can't recall right now, like "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" or something.  Well, Goose then collaborated with them or something, and turned that minute and forty second track into a twenty minute and twenty one second track that just noodles through, in, and around that same song into infinity.  It's actually pretty freaking great.  "2021 (January 5th, to be exact)"

Hews a little more truly to the sound of the original to start, and then just ambles off into the sunset with it, before suddenly unfurling wings and launching into the sky for some steel-powered fireworks, and then turning back around and loping back towards the barn to look for a soft place to lay down.  

Based upon that strange introduction, I hunted down another Goose album to give their other stuff a try.  Their 2020 EP called Night Lights was the one I hunted down and reviewed, and here is what I had to say:

"Goose - Night Lights.  I blame Vampire Weekend for this.  I already know that most jam band music misses the mark for me, but these guys did such a cool job reimagining 20:21 that I had to go hunt down something else from them and give it a shot.  Some of this is fiiiiiine, but some of it was also so cheesy sounding that I actually worried the other day that the guy working on my sprinkler system might hear it from my home office and judge me for listening to some Teletubbies ass shit while working.  I'm sure the sprinkler guy gave no shits and/or was high and would have enjoyed it, but if you're getting self-conscious about what the sprinkler guy thinks, then you don't love the music.  The opening track is the best one - "All I Need" - and "Time to Flee" is the whack shit.  Neither of those is the stream king though, with "Wysteria Lane" claiming that crown with 735k.

Lower key than most of these other songs, or at least slower tempo.  Feels like the part of their show when you'll realize just how stoned you really are because you've stopped pogo-ing around and yelling alligator rhymed with see-you-later.  I dig some of the other tunes better, where they really intertwine their instruments.  This one is a little more straight.  Sounds like something The Revivalists might have played (except missing the slide guitar).  I have a feeling that I would dig their live show more than this EP."

And here's the thing - I'm just not really a jam band guy.  I have always liked the Dead, and I like some bands that dance around the edge of jamminess like My Morning Jacket or The Revivalists or Dave Matthews or Moon Taxi.  I've been to at least one jam band show that I loved - Umphrey's McGee can play the living hell out of their instruments - and then a lot where I felt like I just didn't get it - String Cheese Incident, for sure.  But Widespread and Phish never tickled my fancy, and so this band isn't going to necessarily scratch my itch.

Although, I will now readily admit that when listening to this band in the car on the drive home today, I noticed "Wysteria Lane" as being pretty solid.  Even more solid?  Their three new singles sound really good.  Most of their albums appear to be live albums (with names like 2021.11.21 Denver, CO), but they also have some studio action like 2016's Moon Cabin and 2021's Shenanigans Nite Club.  I'll talk more about that 2021 album in a minute, but the three new singles - "Borne," "Dripfield," and "Hungersite" - sound better.  They get into some jam bits, but the majority of it drops some of the "Shakedown Street" type disco funk and goes for more of a straight soft rock thing.  Their stream count goes in order of release, but I think the newest one is the best one, so I'm giving you that.  "Hungersite" with 125k streams so far.

Poor little office worker drones!  And why did the bag with the video tape in it also have donuts and mango La Croix in it?  Weird detail.  Still goes for the long guitar solo in there, but the overall vibe doesn't feel so loose and improvisational.  Also, what kind of animal puts a bunch of donuts in a paper bag where their toppings can rub off?  Freak.

As for Shenanigans Nite Club, it opens with the hit of the album, "So Ready," which sounds like the discofied funk that I always attribute to "Shakedown Street" when a jam band goes that way.  The second tune, "Satellite" definitely makes me think of Phish with the ever shriller guitar licks climbing their way higher and higher.  The jam at the back half of "Madhuvan" is pretty fun and groovy.  As soon as the auto-tune vocals on "Spirit of the Dark Horse" kick in, I laughed and realized this album is not my thing at all.  Oh, and the 12 minute long "Labyrinth" at the end, big nope energy.

The band itself is five guys - three of them used to be in a band called Vasudo.  Their star has been on the rise for a little while, and it seems like the pandemic stunted their growth for a only a little while.  They played a bunch of livestreamed concerts from a barn in Virginia during the shutdown and called it the Bingo Tour.  Now that they are back out on tour, they seem like the hottest ticket in town, with all of their shows selling out across the country.  

But that may be the deal - maybe their whole thing is that their live show is where the good stuff is.  Lucky us, we have several live albums we can peep!  I tried the Denver one from last year.  I can see the appeal.  I mean, they definitely get repetitive at times, but I can also feel the pleasure of a good repetitive groove that locks in and you can just let it take you over for a little while.  Here is a show from Atlanta and the Sweetwater Festival in 2022.  

See that weirdo dressed like a jellyfish?  That is one of the String Cheese people who overran us at Red Rocks a few years back.  What is up with those three guys who left the crowd after 1:45?  Did they think they were there for a metal band?  The dork in the green hat who is filming the first song - little does he know a professional grade video is being made right behind his head and will be available for free on YouTube.  I'm sitting here judging the people in the crowd, meanwhile I personally hate to feel judged when I'm trying to let loose at a show and enjoy myself without inspection.  Okay.  This is goofy music - a huge crowd singing la-da-dat-dat-dahhh -da as they gently boogie around is something to behold.  But at the same time, I think the show would probably pretty fun to go groove around to for an afternoon.  I just found myself getting sucked into the extendo-jam during "Hungersite."  

Dangit, I'll probably try to go see this.