jack goldstein’s new album is a sonic masterpiece – we talk title chaos, margate magic, and why he wouldn’t babysit a beach boys baby
jack goldstein’s new album is called HELLFIRE BUMPER STICKER COWPUNCHING JEWBOY — and yes, it’s exactly as chaotic, layered and unhinged as it sounds.
following up from 2022’s the 🌍 is ending and i ❤ u, jack’s latest record throws gospel, country, lo-fi pop and moments of sonic meltdown into a nutri-bullet, tapes the lid down with duct tape, and chucks it off a margate cliff for good measure.
oddball descriptions aside, it’s also just really really good. fave track yesterday was BUCKLE UP – a 7 minute epic – but today it’s standout ‘milking blood’ – a beautiful pysch-pop stunner.
anyway, we caught up with jack ahead of the album’s release to talk about bumper stickers, carl wilson, hyper-country, and the joy of letting things go completely off the rails.
This album title is a riot. Where did it come from?
Thanks! I had ideas for a few album titles. I love bumper stickers, I also love the word HELLFIRE. Cowpunching Jewboy was a prospective album title at one point. So in the end I just sandwiched them all together and I liked it a lot.
There’s country, psychedelia, lo-fi, gospel, straight-up noise… what’s the common thread for you?
That’s a good question, I guess the common thread is my own musical taste but also the musical perimeters that i’ve put around myself as an artist. I think I understand the kind of music I like to create more than I used to, so there are sounds and ideas that I like but I don’t always think they work for my stuff – does that make sense?
Yes. You’ve called this your “country record” – what’s your take on country these days?
I don’t know that much about new country music to be honest. I like some stuff. I like F.G.S. I mostly listen to Nanci Griffith, Tanya Tucker and Vince Gill. But I appreciate that my music doesn’t really sound like that, i’m calling my stuff ‘hyper-country’ – it just felt like the right genre to explore the themes of the album.
If Ween, The Beach Boys, and Dan Deacon had a baby, would you babysit it?
Nope. That sounds like a fucking handful. I don’t know much about Dan Deacon to be honest, but can you imagine how much a Ween baby would fuck around and cause chaos? And then a Beach Boys baby would just be unhinged. If it was like Mike Love, it would be a total brat. Hopefully i’d get a Carl Wilson baby. I’d be up for that. This question is fucked up.
Sorry, couldn’t resist. Anyway, Margate is fun isn’t it. How does it influence your sound?
It doesn’t really influence my sound but it’s a great place and there’s some great musicians and artists here. It feels like a community of artists and musicians, which is nice and there’s great promoters putting on cool shows at nice grassroots DIY venues too.
What’s the first track you’d play someone who’s never heard your music?
I guess my new single, MUD MICE.
What’s the plan for the rest of 2025?
I’m on tour, playing a bunch of shows all over the UK and then the new album, HELLFIRE BUMPER STICKER COWPUNCHING JEWBOY, comes out on June 20th on Fabulous Things Records. I’ve done an accompanying experimental ‘sister’ album called COWSTICKER HELL PUNCHER BUMPER FIRE DOPPELGÄNGER which will be released later in the year too.
______
big thanks to jack for the chat.
and definitely check out the album when it’s out 🙂
Leave a comment