Stream: Goon, ‘Choke Throat’

Kevin Bronson on May 23rd, 2018

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L.A. quartet Goon makes lo-fi, highly embraceable guitar rock that sounds like some guy raided the library of a college radio station circa mid-’90s, used those records as an idea board, holed up in his bedroom and got to work. The results — the EPs “Dusk of Punk” (2016) and “Happy Omen” (2017), plus the stellar single “Cammie at Night” — earned deserved attention for their unvarnished charms.

Now Partisan Records has signed Goon, with the label planning to release the EPs, plus two previously unreleased tracks, on a single vinyl LP on July 13. Included is the eccentric meditation “Choke Throat,” which was written after singer-guitarist Kenny Becker (who suffers a medical condition that periodically deadens his sense of smell and hearing) had sinus surgery last year.

“The medication that I take now to maintain the benefits from the surgery sometimes gives me this crazy heartburn feeling that makes my throat feel like it’s closing up,” Becker explains. “It happens less often now, but it was happening a lot around the time I recorded this song. My life pre-surgery was really difficult due to crazy sinus/respiratory problems. A lot of those problems have been alleviated, and I’d much rather live with the occasional ‘choke throat’ than go back to how things were.”

After a date next month at L.A.’s Unscene Fest, Becker and bandmates Drew Eccleston, Christian Koons and Caleb Wicker will embark on their first-ever tour in July.

||| Stream: “Choke Throat”