Goat: Commune

Stunning return from mysterious Swedish septet.

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Goat’s effervescent debut album, World Music, was one of the landmark prog releases of 2012.

A rush of tribal percussion, lysergic weirdness, and chanted vocals, its mystique was heightened by a back story claiming the band were descendants of some lost Swedish outpost with a centuries-old tradition of voodoo worship. As well as keeping their true identities hidden behind stage masks and elaborate headgear, Goat were clearly fond of self-mythology. They’re still an enigmatic bunch and, thankfully, the music is just as inspired. If anything, Commune ups the ante further. The overarching theme appears to be the spirit world, which manifests itself in the ritualistic nature of Goatslaves and the buzzing meditations of The Light Within. It’s all fabulously wrought, and suggests Commune is the heir of Fela Kuti, Funkadelic and Flaming Lips. The two unnamed female singers again lead from the front, though the heavy wah-wah of Goatchild also features a doomy male voice. The breathless end result leaves you wondering why more bands don’t make music this great. The simple answer is, they can’t. Rob Hughes

Rob Hughes

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2008, and sister title Prog since its inception in 2009. Regular contributor to Uncut magazine for over 20 years. Other clients include Word magazine, Record Collector, The Guardian, Sunday Times, The Telegraph and When Saturday Comes. Alongside Marc Riley, co-presenter of long-running A-Z Of David Bowie podcast. Also appears twice a week on Riley’s BBC6 radio show, rifling through old copies of the NME and Melody Maker in the Parallel Universe slot. Designed Aston Villa’s kit during a previous life as a sportswear designer. Geezer Butler told him he loved the all-black away strip.