Goose has announced the release of their eagerly awaited new album. SHENANIGANS NITE CLUB arrives on Friday, June 4; pre-orders are available now.
The Norwalk, CT-based band’s second studio LP and first full-length collection in more than five years, SHENANIGANS NITE CLUB is heralded by the mesmerizing new single, “Spirit of the Dark Horse,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Generally recognized as the first Goose song ever written, “Spirit of the Dark Horse” has garnered legendary status within the band’s faithful fan community. Despite this, the boldly ambitious track – which originated after a “twelve-minute meditation” between co-founders Rick Mitarotonda (vocals, guitar) and Trevor Weekz (bass) – has long been a setlist rarity, featured in only a handful of live performances during the band’s early years.
LISTEN TO “SPIRIT OF THE DARK HORSE”
PRE-ORDER SHENANIGANS NITE CLUB
SHENANIGANS NITE CLUB follows the recent release of Goose’s remarkable cover of Vampire Weekend’s “2021 (January 5th, to be exact),” featured on Vampire Weekend’s new 40:42 EP and available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Personally commissioned by Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig – a longtime Goose fan – with the only directive to make it twenty minutes and twenty-one seconds long, the expansive track is accompanied by a full-length performance video, streaming now via YouTube.
WATCH VAMPIRE WEEKEND PRESENTS “2021 (JANUARY 5TH, TO BE EXACT)”
Hailed by Billboard for their “penchant for innovation and creativity during the pandemic,” Goose will celebrate SHENANIGANS NITE CLUB with a series of socially distant live dates beginning May 3 and 4 at Frederick, MD’s Showtime At The Drive-In and then hitting North Charleston, SC’s Riverfront Park (May 6) and Pelham, TN’s The Caverns Above Ground Amphitheater (May 8 and 9). All dates are completely sold out; additional shows will be announced soon. For updates and complete details, please visit goosetheband.com/tour.
GOOSE TOUR 2021
MAY
3 – Frederick, MD – Showtime At The Drive-In – SOLD OUT
4 – Frederick, MD – Showtime At The Drive-In – SOLD OUT
6 – North Charleston, SC – Riverfront Park – SOLD OUT
8 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns Above Ground Amphitheater – SOLD OUT
9 – Pelham, TN – The Caverns Above Ground Amphitheater – SOLD OUT
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An ode to oft-forgotten vestiges of Goose’s musical journey, both personal and collective, SHENANIGANS NITE CLUB marks the apex of a rich history between friends of differing ages and experiences from the same small town in Connecticut, drawn together through a deep love of music and storytelling. Songs like the tectonic “Labyrinth” and the ruminative deep-dive, “SOS,” fluidly traverse genres with head-spinning hooks, technical fireworks, and the kind of rare chemistry only possible among truly close collaborators.
“While we’ve been touring, the record has been happening in the background,” says Rick Mitarotonda. “It’s been quite the process. At times, it was difficult. The record is a companion to those growing pains.”
Goose made their remarkable debut with 2016’s Moon Cabin and quickly took flight, playing countless shows while steadily amassing a fervent nationwide following. Years of relentless touring culminated in a string of milestone festival performances during the summer of 2019, highlighted by a now-legendary performance at Scranton, PA’s annual Peach Fest (streaming in its entirety HERE). Further touring followed, including a completely sold out fall headline run and hastily scheduled dates at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg in January 2020, both of which proved instant sell outs.
2019 and 2020 also saw Goose return to the studio for a series of extraordinary single releases, collected on last year’s NIGHT LIGHTS EP (available HERE). The tracks – mastered by the first-ever female GRAMMY® Award winner for “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical,” Emily Lazar (Sia, Clairo, Haim) – exhibit a fully unified live outfit eager to showcase and develop their studio voice.
Due in part to their trademark inclination for improvisation, Goose was able to creatively navigate the myriad challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. A succession of intimate virtual performances culminated with the unprecedented “Bingo Tour,” a two-week live streaming event featuring four unique concerts with setlists determined by the outcome of a live Bingo game. Held at a bucolic private property in Fairfield County, CT, the interactive performances were captured for posterity in the full-length concert film, Bingo Tour, joined by an exclusive 55-minute behind-the-scenes documentary and available to rent or download HERE.
Fall 2020 saw a welcome return to live performance with a slew of sold-out drive-in shows across the Northeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions. Propelled by seemingly unstoppable momentum, Goose wrapped up the year with their seventh annual Goosemas holiday benefit concert, streamed live from a rooftop in New York City’s Rockefeller Center to over 50K fans exclusively via Twitch’s new Relix Channel. The epic 3-hour performance – which raised over $45,000 for NIVA’s Save Our Stages and Conscious Alliance – can be viewed now at the official Goose YouTube channel HERE; a full-length audio recording is available via Bandcamp HERE.
“Our dream is to inspire people to step off the beaten path,” says Mitarotonda. “There are a lot of voices that tell you to play it safe. I think the coolest thing in the world is when someone breaks free and goes for whatever weird shit they dream of doing.”
Goose is Rick Mitarotonda (vocals, guitar), Peter Anspach (vocals, keys, guitar), Trevor Weekz (bass), Ben Atkind (drums), and Jeff Arevalo (vocals, percussion, drums).
