GOAT GIRL + THE NEW EVES – CHALK, BRIGHTON 12.6.24
With the release of their third album ‘Below The Waste’ on Rough Trade Records, South London’s Goat Girl brought their album launch show to Brighton’s Chalk as a Resident outstore on Wednesday. Now a trio, Lottie, Rosy and Holly were joined on stage by an additional keyboard player.
Goat Girl have developed their sound and live shows considerably, since I first saw them play The Joker in Brighton back in November 2017. Until recently there was no chat at all from the band. From the very start of their latest show, that had changed. As the band came on stage, bassist Holly said how pleased they were to be playing Chalk for the first time.
Goat Girl started with ‘Where’s ur <3’ with a dark moody synth part and very heavy bass, which softened during the song. What was clear from this very first number was how well the rhythm section of Holly on bass and Rosie on drums worked. I don’t know if this was helped by the slightly unusual stage layout with Rosie’s drum kit to the side of the stage, in line with and facing the rest of the band.
On that opening song and many during the set, Lottie’s vocals were a lot softer and less angry than in Goat Girl’s early days. Later in the set she even used an almost whispering style. I thought her vocals suited the new material perfectly.
As expected most of the set was from their new album, ‘Below The Waste’. Before the second song Lottie announced, “We’re going back 3 years to 2021.” The departure from the new material was for ‘The Crack’ from the ‘On All Fours’ album, which received a big cheer from the Chalk crowd, as they recognised the intro.
The new on-stage banter within the band was evident at the start of the next track ‘Ride Around’. It started with a “rumbling ambiance” as they described it. Lottie and Holly were quick to point out “It’s not my tummy rumbling”. This lead single from the album was one of the many highlights of their set. It had several sections and styles intercepting and combining across the song, with Rosie’s drumsticks signposting the changeovers. This was the first of several times the different vocal styles of guitarist Lottie and bassist Holly worked so well together.
Holly proclaimed that Bristol had been the liveliest crowd so far on their record store tour, and challenged Brighton to go one better. She even suggested that Lottie’s cousins, who were in the audience, started a mosh pit.
‘Play It Down’ wasn’t a moshing song. The keyboard part at the start had a bit of a harpsichord feel. Another mellow song ‘Words Fell Out’ followed. Its soft guitars were accompanied by Rosie playing bar chimes at the start. As with many of the songs, there were some interesting effects utilised.
The band went straight into the other track in the set from the ‘On All Fours’ album, ‘Sad Cowboy’. It was a livelier number, with both Lottie and Holly becoming more animated as they danced along. Many of the crowd joined in by dancing and clapping along to this familiar favourite.
There was a change of instruments for ‘Motorway’, as Holly swapped bass for keyboard and Lottie put down her guitar. Played live ‘Motorway’ was a lot dancier than on the album. Holly in particular was dancing enthusiastically during this number, as were many in the audience. This funkier take on the song clearly went down with the crowd from their cheering and applause.
Next it was, as Lottie put it, “Time for a sad song”. ‘Tonight’ had a very quiet intro with Rosie’s bar chimes. Lottie almost whispered the lyrics on this very atmospheric song. It was an emotional vocal, as if it was painful to recall the story behind the song. The audience were captivated with respectful silence during this song.
The following two songs ‘Perhaps’ and ‘Sleep Talk’ were the most complex and varied songs of the night with their use of effects, changing moods and structure. ‘Perhaps’ started with just Lottie and her guitar before cleverly building and becoming much punchier in places. ‘Sleep Talk’ began quite dark and dreamy. As the song built and the mood got darker, Holly screamed out the lyrics in contrast to Lottie’s almost chanting style.
Closing the set, as it does the album, was ‘Wasting’. Holly’s deep bass lines and the brooding keys gave the start of this song a very stark and eerie feel. The shared vocals between Lottie’s calmer delivery and Holly’s shouted style worked well with the ever-changing mood and feel throughout this song.
Goat Girl aren’t a band who stick to a set formula and ‘Below The Waste’ is a further development in their sound. Based on their performance at Chalk, I thought it worked superbly live. I’m guessing the Brighton audience wasn’t as lively as the one in Bristol from Holly’s challenge. However, I think people clearly enjoyed and appreciated where Goat Girl are heading. After that showing and several listens to the new album, I certainly do.
Goat Girl:
Lottie Pendlebury – vocalist and guitar
Rosy Jones – drums
Holly Mullineaux – bass and keyboard
Goat Girl setlist:
‘Where’s ur <3’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘The Crack’ (from 2021 ‘On All Fours’ album)
‘Ride Around’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Play It Down’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Words Fell Out’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Sad Cowboy’ (from 2021 ‘On All Fours’ album)
‘Motorway’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Tonight’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Perhaps’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Sleep Talk’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
‘Wasting’ (from 2024 ‘Below The Waste’ album)
Opening for Goat Girl were Brighton based band The New Eves, with their unusual lineup of cello, violin, flute, concertina, guitar, bass and drums. The band call their mash-up of folk, punk and ’60s garage “hagstone rock”.
Their opening number, ‘With My Cows In The Early Dawn’ set the tone of their set and gave us an insight into hagstone rock. Their chanting vocal sometimes choral-like while at other times tribal was shared between the four band members.
That first song had a tribal sound which sped up once the other instruments joined in with the cello. Violet swapped her violin for a concertina on ‘Astrolabe’, their recent single release. This had more of a folk feel. ‘Circles’ had a change in vocal style starting as a spoken narrative. All four took turns singing on this song, before it took an angrier feel and they sang over each other. ‘Highway Man’ was a faster track with a somewhat harsher sound.
Cellist Nina said it was the first time The New Eves had played Chalk, and it was “nice to be on a bigger stage”. Given the variety of instruments that the band used during their 5 song set, they must have appreciated the extra space.
Standing rather than sitting at the drum kit, Ella did a superb job setting the pace of the set. Along with Kate on bass, her drumming gave a solid foundation to the musical variety across the set.
While Violet swapped instruments on each song, the final number saw Nina and Ella change too. There wasn’t the distinctive cello on ’Volcano’ as Nina swapped to guitar. Drummer Ella started ’Volcano’ with a beautiful flute part. What started as the slowest song of their set, built in speed and volume before becoming almost silent at the close.
The New Eves’ unique sound of folk and ’60s garage wasn’t just different, but the quality of their musicianship shone through. They deservedly got a good reaction from the audience, who had got down early to catch their set.
The New Eves:
Nina Winder-Lind – cello, guitar, vocals
Violet Farrer – violin, guitar, concertina, vocals
Ella Russell – drums, flute, vocals
Kate Mager – bass
The New Eves setlist:
‘With My Cows In The Early Dawn’
‘Astrolabe’ (a 2024 single release)
‘Circles’
‘Highway Man’
‘Volcano’
