Van Goat performs new album ‘Follow Me Under’ LP at Balanced BreakFEST
Oakland's very own swing/punk/jazz band Van Goat is releasing their new EP Follow Me Under later this week. It's just what you need when you need a moment to break out and dance, then cool off soon after. “You know when you’re in the shower and you want to turn the water as hot as you possibly can, and when it starts to burn you, you lower it a little bit? That’s what I want people to feel with this record,” says bassist Derek Burle. That's the perfect description for this entire LP — and need we mention that this [...]
Van Goat swinging into shows around the Bay with new single
Swing is a genre that’s been around since the beginning of recorded music. It started off as a two-beat drum pattern led by brass instruments, and is closely related to the evolution of jazz. Though popular figures like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong reinvented swing to keep the jitterbug alive on the dance floor, the style isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. Oakland outfit Van Goat is trying to change this with their own unique spin on swing. The group's songs parallel the tunes you’d hear on an old jukebox, and they're bringing that brand of music to [...]
Premiere: Van Goat’s swing-punk “Willie the Weeper” electrifies
Van Goat is making a name for itself as one of San Francisco's funnest bands. Their newest release, "Willie the Weeper," a ska-styled swing-punk take on the classic tune, is an electrifying example not only of the band's energy but their tremendous musical talent. We're excited to premiere the song today as a taste of their forthcoming full-length, Follow Me Under, due out in the Fall. The tune itself was written at the turn of the last century and credited to Walter Melrose, Grant Rymal, and Marty Bloom, though it's surmised they pulled it out of the vaudeville scene. The [...]
What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, Jan 20-22
Show your solidarity with trans prisoners with Queers Against Prison this Sunday night at The Night Light. Friday, January 20 Goon @ Garden of Weeden Grungy lo-fi Goon will be playing a "message for the address" show somewhere in San Francisco tonight. Listen to "Dizzy" to get your bearings before going. Van Goat, Battlehooch, Wicked Man @ The Uptown Nightclub Over the summer, Bear Lincoln changed their name to the wordplay-heavy Van Goat and never looked back. Cartoon Violence, Elegant Trash, Chemical Gunns @ Stork Club Cartoon Violence deems itself "Bay Area nerd rock" of "musical crime fighters" and this [...]
Bear Lincoln change name to Van Goat, release new single
The first time keyboardist Ben Einstein from Bear Lincoln told me the band was planning to change their name, all I could think was: Why? Your music is so spectacularly catchy and exciting and addictive I wouldn’t care if you called yourselves, without a whiff of irony, The Gun-Loving Donald Trump Fan Club (a horrible idea, but possibly a fabulous T-shirt). Unless the band decided a new musical moniker was necessary to fit a new musical identity. Maybe Bear Lincoln is too whimsical or frivolous to match their future sound, one that requires solemnity for solemn times and solitary contemplation [...]