Young Goats Deliver on Goat Life Vol. 1
By Deuce
You’re bound to hear a little something of everything on Goat Life Vol. 1, the latest long player from Los Angeles’ Young Goats. The duo’s versatility is evinced early and often on the 15-track set, treating listeners to a variety of styles, flows, and flavors that seemingly blow in the with the island breeze characteristic of many of the numbers.
Perhaps it’s because the pair are currently on the West Coast, readily name dropping such idyllic settings as sunny San Diego on a project in which the music and verve of the vocalists seems to transcend any sort of lyrical complexity. Or, it could have something to do with the Miami feel on a good part of the album, which readily pays homage to the continuity of EDM-fueled rhythms admixed with dancehall. Or, it simply could be the songwriting prowess of the twosome that enables them to seamlessly transition between musical genres as diverse as conventional rhythm and blues to overtly shameless pop aspirations.
Whatever it is, it works for the duration of the collection. The vocal dexterity displayed on the album spans from chatting to conventional singing, contemporary rap flows to reggae infused melodies. Such diversity hints at the range the pair traverse on this LP, which works best on some of the more straightforward material like “Whole Snack”, which smacks with the tremendous pound of weighty 808’s. Sure to sub in any decent sound system or truck, “Snack” is just one of many odes to the shapely assets of the young female persuasion in the aforementioned communities. With the tandem of singer songwriters Samuel Weidler and Johnathan Johnson trading raps in between some verifiable crooning, this ditty is one of the many that could catapult the group to mainstream success.
The rest of the album certainly sounds as though the two are shooting for the majors. Practically the entire first half of the collection relies on the four-on-the floor drum pattern popular for the duration of the decade (and likely well before). However, the pair regularly flips styles between such straight ahead hooks found on cuts like “Beautiful” and “Only Need You” to 16’s notable for the rapidity of the flows and light, carefree tone of the emcees. Things mesh particularly well on “Gaze On”, with its dancehall bass, pop chords and playful percussion. This tune is just one of the many in which the duo demonstrate the penchant for making music with the best of them.
