by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
New York City’s Goo may just be the best unsigned band in the country. It’s entirely possible. Their music, while undeniably beautiful, has the ability to shake you to the core in composition alone. The Beck Zegans led band are set to self-release their second album, Squid Ink Sky, due out June 9th. The band’s slow dripped brand of psychedelic folk and wide open expanses is void of the hustle and bustle of city life, the songs take their time to draw upon moonlight ambiance amid whispered croons, gentle acoustics, sweeping melodies, and subtle twang. Moving between the reverberation of sun peeled ballads and flourishes of dusty Americana-tinged psych, Zegans and company swoon and shimmer in slow motion throughout the always dreamy yet texturally dynamic record. Their music plays out understated, dreamy and rooted in hazy folk, but Beck Zegans’ songwriting and vocals are utterly gorgeous, equal parts delicate and compelling. Everything about Squid Ink Sky is stunning, a gorgeous tale of hope, longing, heartbreak, and resilience.
Nearly a year a half since the release of the band’s Open Tab single “Winter Is Over,” Goo welcome us to the world of Squid Ink Sky courtesy of lead single “Outlaw,” a noir tale of life and love on the run in avoidance of emotional connection. This is the more upbeat side of Goo, shuffling into place with a jaunty rhythm, warm keys, and serene guitars providing a beautiful complement to the stretched and pulled resonance of the pedal steel. The band - Zegans, Q Robinson, Leah Beck, Anders Johnson, and J.R. Bohannon - shimmer in the song’s vast landscape, adding a real sense of depth to the careful construction. There’s a strength to the performance that rings from the careening drifts of pedal steel to the plucky gallop of the beat. At the heart of it all though is Zegans’ voice, twisting in the emphasis with each repeat of the phrase of “my honey,” offering the sense of personal loss and forlorn understanding on lines like “home isn’t safe for everyone, my honey’s on the run forever.”
If you’re in Brooklyn, be sure to catch Goo’s single release show tomorrow February 24th, at Union Pool with Scout Gillett and Diamond Grinder.