Goat claim to be a loose collective from Korpilombolo, Norrbotten County, Sweden – but beyond that their identities are a mystery. In live performance they wear outlandish masks and multicoloured robes similar to those available at an incense-and-candles emporium near you. Their festival-friendly head music incorporates styles from around the globe – African highlife guitar here (Trouble in the Streets), a wailing eastern voice there (Psychedelic Lover). Opening track Union of Sun and Moon alone boasts a nod to rural, northern-European folk, a choir chanting in an obscure tribal tongue and even what sounds suspiciously like Andean panpipes. Goat’s Wicker-Man-goes-to-Womad hokum is underpinned by western rock, the freak-out drones of Goatband swirling around a riff not dissimilar to that of the Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Goat are admirably untroubled by questions of cultural appropriation or authenticity (they announced their arrival in 2012 with an album entitled World Music). Good for them.
