What weird and wonderful alchemy is this? There isn’t a dud track on 'Dead Goat' – the inaugural album (at least I hope there’ll be more) that master-blends the talents of three of the North’s best singer-songwriters and musicians to create something magnetically celestial.
This unholy trinity is none other than Malojian (Stevie Scullion), Matt McGinn, and Mark McCausland (aka McKowski, one half of The Lost Brothers). Individually I love the work of all three, but together, with their harmonies, melodies and glorious eccentricities, it’s as if this was always meant to be. Add to the mix Declan McManus on drums and this goat is alive and kicking.
Making music individually and in other incarnations for a few decades now, Dead Goat came into this world when the aforementioned musicians got together in a room with nothing more intended than the joy of each other’s company and music. What kicked off as casual jam sessions soon spiralled into something more. Songs started to form, as they sometimes do – leading to enough material to record a full album.
Now the self-titled album has just landed and F&T commend it to you – how could we not!
Opening with ‘Anyway the Wind Blows’, hooked from the opening bars and the onset of Stevie Scullion’s unmistakeable vocals, and I’m transported to a basement blues-rock bar in Amsterdam circa 1984 for some reason. That’s the vibe – yet there’s hints of The Beatles in the melody, and in some alternative universe, towards the end of the track, I’m reminded of the baseline from ABBA’s ‘Name of the Game’.
Forgive me and my innocent ear for what else came to mind elsewhere on ‘Dead Goat’ – from the Velvet Underground, to Simon & Garfunkel (‘El Salvador’) – a juxtaposition I never thought I’d write, or from the Beach Boys to The Handsome Family. We couldn’t be off to a better start – with nine more tracks to go. ‘Broken Arrow’ brings to mind the moody atmospheric blues-folk of True Detective, and The Handsome Family’s ‘Far From Any Road’.
‘All That I Need’ is gently on the uplifting side, and brings to mind Malojian’s own ‘All I Need’ from ‘The Deer’s Cry’ album – a majestically simple beauty. Writ of the Lonely is sassy and swift, with a great beat and nuances of The Beach Boys. I love the little nuggets of laughter that seep through on both tracks about loneliness – ‘Writ of the Lonely’ and ‘Laughs of the Lonely’ – little hints of joyful pathos and irony.
I get the sense that these four are having a blast, even while tackling dark matter. Track 5 – ‘Prisoners of the Dark’ is the first single from the album. Poetic and painful, reminiscent of the Johnny Cash version of ‘Hurt’.
They’re all great tracks but if I had to pick a favourite it would be ‘El Salvador’ (referring perhaps to the Person, not the country). It’s where I got a Simon & Garfunkel vibe which is just fine with me.
‘Nut Germs’ – with its ‘super stars hanging on the door’ and a reflective nod to the pangs of
the past is classic Malojian, followed by ‘Laughs for the Lonely’, which is classic Matt McGinn, with his knack for conjuring up worn down characters with a narrative empathy, wrapped in gentle melody and harmonies. Just beautiful.
Penultimate track ‘So Long John’ has me back with The Beatles vibe, now we’re rocking – wrapping up with ‘Death of an Actor’, which has a distinctively ‘Lost Boys’ echo and enigmatic, haunting steel pedal guitar. What a way to pull this gem to a close!
RIP to the poor wee goat – but this is heaven made.
Definitely book to see them live during this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival on 10th May, or on 2nd May at Kilkenny Roots Festival.