Rough Trade’s new signees, southern teenage four-piece Goat Girl, have crashed their way into the indie London scene in the past couple of months. The Brixton-based girls have been well-known to those who frequent the pubs and community spaces of South London, and have been quietly reigniting the DIY scene with next to no online presence. This impressive feat has undoubtedly earned the foursome a great deal of respect, and of course, their record deal with Rough Trade.
The girl’s last single ‘Country Sleaze’ was released as a double a-side on 7 October. It is one of only two tracks available to stream online, giving even more of a reason to get out and watch them live. ‘Country Sleaze’ is a guttural guitar montage with staggering melodies that spit like venom “I’m a country sleaze/Nobody will mess with me”. Channelling vibes from Courtney Barnett and Fat White Family, Goat Girl have brought a refreshing DIY mix to the London scene that is unapologetic, dirty and ever so enjoyable.
In homage to their reputation of having a good time, and reinvigorating the current promoter-heavy live music scene in London, they graced The Old Blue Last on 3 January headlining a completely free gig.
The evening begins with support band Dead Pretties. The fun threesome headed by Jacob Slater, self proclaimed ‘multi-tasker’, are a new band finding their feet with an impressive live show. They have surprisingly traditional vocals to accompany a very grunge-esque sound that at times touched on being similar to Nirvana, a compliment I’m sure they would appreciate. Some DIY grunge/indie bands risk losing their melodies in white noise heavy guitar fuzz but not Dead Pretties – each song they performed delivered unique and captivating melodies but still maintained a scuzzy edge. The threesome also managed to incorporate a referee whistle into one of their performances which was impressive to say the least.
Main support came in the form of Fish, a Camden-born foursome headed by female vocalist Asha Lorenz. Fish are still young on the music scene, but they perform with such indisputable accomplishment that it is barely noticeable. Asha effortlessly switched the vocals from soft to strident while her nonchalant band played head bobbing tracks to an absolutely packed out room. These guys oozed confidence and assurance, even in the smallest of spaces, and delivered a genre of ‘dream-grunge’ that kept the audience spellbound for an ambitiously long set.
Last came Goat Girl. With queues coming down the stairs from the converted loft/live music venue and out The Old Blue Last’s front bar door, it was clear that this band had amassed quite the following. Not all of those who came to watch were able to make it up to the show, with a one in one out policy being applied minutes before the girls went on due to the crowds. Luckily, I managed to convince the security guard to let me in and squashed myself up against the back wall for the set. The girls were well worth the discomfort, and performed seamlessly while snarling their lyrics through the microphone. The girls were well rehearsed with ferocious energy. They have the ability to express the disgust manifested in their lyrics with venom and nonchalance at the same time, and it is somewhat charming. My only criticism was that the set consisted of only three or four songs, and had a few patrons wondering whether it had been cut short. Whether this was the case, or their catalogue just wasn’t as large as their previous supports, their performance was humorous, literate and scathingly satirical. Goat Girl are undoubtedly one to keep your eye on in 2017, and I suspect they will be making more frequent appearances in line-ups across the UK very soon.
Sian Blewitt
Facebook: facebook.com/goatgirlofficial