Goblin Cock on a Wednesday
Last night at New York City‘s Highline Ballroom, bedecked in doomrobe and with powdered beard, Lord Phallus of Goblin Cock — whose alter ego happens to be Rob Crow of Pinback, Optiganally Yours and sundry other underground indie units fame — led his five-man army on a riff march up and down Witch Mountain with a tongue-in-cheek homage to classic occult metal. Goblin Cock. Seriously, man. Goblin Cock.
Hipster outfits Orphan and Warship opened, and there are those who would put Goblin Cock in an irono-metal category, but I argue there’s nothing ironic about what Crow & Co. have going on. They know damn well they’re being ridiculous, and they’re having fun with it. Witness keyboardist Loki Sinjuggler, whose constant, ceaseless throwing of the horns started out as kind of funny but by the end of the set was downright admirable (your arm’s got to get sore after a while doing that the whole time). That’s not irony. That’s comedy.
What made Goblin Cock worth leaving the forest for on a Wednesday night, however, was Crow‘s inescapable songwriting prowess. Even when he’s writing purposefully simple and willfully goofball songs, he’s writing them really well. Witness “Loch” and “Ode to Billy Jack,” both off this year’s Come with Me if You Want to Live (released on Crow‘s own Robcore Records), which opened the show and probably should have closed it instead. Each of the two packs about seven minutes’ worth of song into half that time. Yes, “Haint” is a little wacky, but in terms of their structure, these are well-built songs. The baseness of the riffs and silliness in the atmosphere makes it a lot of fun, but if the songs weren’t good they’d be intolerable.
The Highline stage was adorned with strobes that blasted a crowd sparse but glad to be there and smiling heartily throughout, and at various points, skulls and orbs were made objects of pagan worship as Crow‘s vocal-phazer stage banter provided some laughs by way of between-song banter. It was a short set, about 45-50 minutes of actual playing, including a three-song encore, but with two albums of material barely totalling in 70 minutes of songs, there wasn’t much more to be expected and nothing felt conspicuous in its absence from either Come with Me or the 2005 debut, Bagged and Boarded (Absolutely Kosher). Hell, if they had more songs, there might not have been time for the Frankie Goes to Hollywood or Tears for Fears covers — “Relax” and “Head over Heels,” respectively. No one would want that.
“Thanks for coming to another sold out show from Gooobbbliiinnnn Coooooock!” Crow jibed as the show drew to its expectedly big rock finish. The band’s poppy take on doom riffing felt like it was an inside joke and we were the only ones who got it, and even with Stella Artois at seven dollars, I had no regrets being there. Call it hipster metal, I could give a shit. I heart Goblin Cock.
Special thanks to Ken Pierce of Piercing Metal for the photos.
Great piece Mr. Obelisk and I FINALLY posted my commentary on this truly interesting night. I enjoyed the whole thing whether some bands were Hipster or just plain odd. It was a cool change of pace from the throttling Metalcore stuff that has been hitting the club circuit around here of late. Should you want to see what I wrote up, just click my name. See you in the field again soon my friend.