Review | Goose – Everything Must Go

Label: No Coincidence Records

By Pearse Connick

Goose are back with their latest evolution, ‘Everything Must Go’, which, just like every other album of theirs, shows how much further and further they are progressing from their origins.  

Since the release of their previous album ‘Dripfield’ in 2022, the Connecticut quartet have rose to levels that for them would’ve been previously unimaginable, with the group set to headline Madison Square Garden this summer. 

‘Everything Must Go‘ opens with its title track, like a coming-of-age song that could very nicely soundtrack your summer, whilst grabbing your attention very quickly for the rest of the album.

The band have came a long way since their beginning, and ‘Give It Time’ plays out like a celebration of this, with an almost biblical feeling to it from the backing vocals that run throughout.  

‘Dustin Hoffman’ kicks in with some 70s rhythm, again displaying some impressive brass instrumentals that make the track a standout of the album.

When ‘Your Direction’ starts, there are instant feelings of a classic Fleetwood Mac intro, and those feelings continue throughout. Quickly within this album, you realise that the core of it lies with its quirky and fun instrumentals and riffs, as shown by again by ‘Thatch,’ which manages to maintain the strutty guitar playing that was present in ‘Dustin Hoffman‘ but adjust it to suit a whole new tune. 

One of the songs with the most heart in it is ‘Lead Up,’ which not only showcases the songwriting talent possessed by Mitarotonda, but also the band’s ability to pour their heart out into a song.

‘Red Bird’ and ‘Atlas Dogs’ bring back the emotional power of the album, using their length to carry out striking choruses cut between cut-back verses in a way that leaves you blown away by them.

The album brings us back to a whole new setting with ‘California Magic’ which contrasts the setting laid by previous tracks. The sunny feeling continues with ‘Feel It Now’ which finalises on the most danceable section of the album, going full disco for the final 2 minutes. 

‘Iguana Song’ wraps its lyrical story up in 2 minutes, but luckily the instruments, especially the synth used, take the song on a whole different adventure that needs no lyrics to assist it.

Not many bands can write a song that lasts nearly 9 minutes, let alone a song that entertains and maintains quality for that time. That’s exactly what ‘Silver Rising’ does; it makes you feel like the band can probably do whatever they want and it’d still sound brilliant.

After all this, the album was always going to require a solid closing track, and luckily the aptly named ‘How It Ends’ does just that, leaving the listeners on an emotional yet cheery note.  

When listening to this album, it is absolutely no surprise that Goose are now the size that they are, with talent overflowing throughout them. Luckily, that talent has been perfectly represented within ‘Everything Must Go’.