Goat Girl - On All Fours (Album review)

 

It was quite a long time ago now that I first discovered Goat Girl, I remember enjoying the first singles the band released and thinking they had a pretty original and interesting sound but by the time the band had dropped their debut album I was already kind of burnt out on their music. Most of their songs felt underdeveloped and the band’s debut album really beat the same formula to death and lacked any kind of variety. They seemed to be far too comfortable churning out this kind of short and sleazy post punk tune and to an extent they probably suffered from all the hype that was surrounding them as well.

On All Fours definitely sees the band expand their range quite a bit and they do dip their feet into a few more genres, the songs are longer and more developed for the most part but this album suffers more from a lack of substance than anything else. The album is kind of a mismatch of tracks that are semi-interesting and have a cool aesthetic but that’s kind of it. The vocal style that Goat Girl opt for is this kind of uninterested snarl and whilst I get that the idea of sounding like you don’t want to be there is an artistic choice, it made a lot more sense on the kind of music they were producing on their debut and as they’re now moving away from these post punk tracks that are usually less than a couple of minutes long, the vocals just sound completely out of place. I also think the band seem to struggle writing an effective chorus, with most choruses in On All Fours sounding flat and for the most part derail the songs too much.

The opening track Pest is a decent song though, it starts off slow with some creeping synths building up momentum. I think this is a good song to open the album, not only does it show how much the band have evolved, the way the song builds towards a chaotic and fun ending really sets a good tone and even though the ending doesn’t go as big as I’d hope it’s still a great song at building an atmosphere.

Badibaba is upbeat and bouncy, it’s got a memorable bass line and some airy reverb drenched vocals. There is a very Goat Girl sounding twisted guitar line and sadly an underwhelming chorus but a cool and intense breakdown towards the end of the track saves it from falling into the dud territory. It isn’t the best track on the album but by no means the worst.

The next track, Jazz (In the Supermarket) is however a bit of a dud. Yeah, the track has a cool atmosphere but for what is effectively an interlude this one goes on far too long and is also super repetitive. The song that directly follows this one, Once Again, isn’t very inspired either, it’s a pretty boring track with a decent enough bassline and that’s about it, this one doesn’t really flow very while and I’m not too sure what Goat Girl was going for on this one.

Sad Cowboy is how ever a lot better, I immediately liked this one due to its fun rhythm and groove especially on the verses. There are some really interesting synths on this track as well and a better written and effective chorus which I am grateful for. The sort of synth riff that plays on the bridge of this song fits the track perfectly, I also really love how this song almost becomes a full on house track from absolutely no where towards the end. I think there is definitely some Talking Heads inspiration on Sad Cowboy at parts. I really love the ambition from Goat Girl on this song; it’s really inventive and a lot of fun.

 The next track is another one of the singles the band released teasing the album, The Crack. It’s a lot closer to the bands old material, sounding punky and sinister albeit pretty timid. It sounds more like two songs slotted together than a full song of its own; the chorus doesn’t really compliment or even fit with the rest of the song and just doesn’t have the drive they seem to think it does.

Anxiety Feels is quite an honest song about anxiety and mental health in general. The vocals have a soothing and mournful feel to them as well as a nice melody which I think the band where aware of considering a lot of the song is spent singing na na na to its tune. It’s one of the better songs overall and the chorus is quite poignant which is kind of rare in On All Fours.

The penultimate track Where do we go From Here, isn’t a very interesting song either, just kind of existing without making me feel anything positive or negative towards it. This song is fairly flat, bland and completely devoid of any emotion or energy.

Finally the album ends with the song A-men, which opens with some toned down but entrancing percussion. I think this is one of the rare occasions where the lifeless vocals actually help the song rather than detracting from it. It’s got a chill vibe and a sort of melancholy feel to it; I like this track and even though it doesn’t blow me away I like the note the band have decided to end the album on.

So to sum up, kind of a mixed bag with On All Fours, I think the band generally suffer from the way their music is produced, everything feels so toned down that it always seems that the band lacks any drive or aggression, it really feels like the production style the band opt for is a compete mismatch for their sound.

When I’m listening to this record I just feel like I’m not getting as much from it as I’d like to. If you’re a Goat Girl fan then you’ll probably enjoy this record but I can’t see it winning over many new fans. The moany vocals are quite tiring and the songs are too drawn out with not enough going on. I know musically this album is more interesting but they have lost all the edge and grit that they had on their debut. And whilst I am generally impressed and respect that the band have changed up their sound, the song writing lacks any depth. I think unfortunately Goat Girl might be the definition of style over substance.

51/100

Best tracks – Pest, Sad Cowboy, Anxiety Feels, A-men

Worst tracks – Jazz (In the Supermarket), Once Again, The Crack, They Bite on You