by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
A lot has changed in the world during the three years since Los Angeles’ Goon released their last album, Heaven Is Humming, and with it, a lot has changed for the band as well. Set to release Paint By Numbers, Vol. 1 on February 25th, the band have shifted away from the fuzzed out grunge-pop they are best known for in favor of something a bit more abstract and softly psychedelic. Together with a new line-up, it’s a welcome change that finds them shedding away generic edges and coming into their own with a new sense of freedom. Their latest EP takes a woozy approach but it’s not without a sense of immediacy, the band warps guitars to sound alien, with a heavy dose of lo-fi, dream pop, and a touch of shoegaze seeped into the mix. There are synths. There are strings. Goon has entered new territory and it works.
Following lead single “Garden Of Our Neighbor,” comes the band’s latest, “Fruiting Body,” a song that was inspired by Kenny Becker’s walks around the LA River and the nature that resulted from that environment. The lyrics are an abstract reflection on both nature and nostalgia, delivered over a laidback beat and finger picked melody. The soft feels free to wander at its own pace, with the guitar progression simply bubbling together with the vocal harmonies. The video, directed and edited by Becker, captures the slow pacing of the music and the atmospheric influence of nature in the song.
Speaking about the song, Becker shared:
"It’s kinda loose, but I felt like I was trying to get at the contrast between nostalgia and the present. Not that there’s anything wrong with looking back fondly at the past, it can obviously bring great joy. But sometimes to prevent myself from spiraling into an inescapable pit of sentimentality, I try to ground myself in the present. I think this is reflected in the first verse which looks at “worms in the leaf bed” where presumably the “pink glass” is found. And then, by contrast, the second verse is centered more on simple, small things happening in the present moment: my cat on the windowsill watching something, my mint plant beside her."