Los Angeles quartet GOON has dropped a one-off single, “Death Spells,” ahead of their upcoming LP slated for 2025 on Born Losers Records.
The track, recorded over two weeks in October with Claire Morison, involves the entire band’s contribution and includes harmonies from former member Drew Eccleston.
Band leader Kenny Becker, coming off a difficult period, wanted everyone present for the recording. He says, “I wanted everyone to play on this one. It feels really special, and comforting. The way your friends gather around you in tough times, when you’re hurting, to make music together.”
“Death Spells” unfolds quietly, blending elements of psych, folk, and alternative.
It’s described as both gentle and sinister, with an atmosphere that evokes Elliot Smith, Grizzly Bear, Duster, DIIV, and Knifeplay.
A note of warning runs through Becker’s vocals: “Death spells are coming down/Don’t go outside.” The instrumentation—acoustic guitar, resonator guitar from Shane Peralta, subtle electronics, xylophone, piano—builds slowly, shifting from soft strumming and chirping embellishments into a darker, more urgent intensity.
The chorus line, “Here’s the knife/Belly is waiting now open wide,” emphasizes the track’s uneasy undercurrent. In the final moments, the drums grow steadier and the volume swells, a sign that while darkness is present, the act of creation persists and suggests something beyond despair.
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The band
GOON began in 2015 as Becker’s solo project before evolving into a full band. Early releases included the “Dusk of Punk” EP (2016), and the quartet’s first LP, “Heaven Is Humming” (2019) on Partisan Records.
They self-released “Paint By Numbers 1” mid-pandemic, then followed with “Hour of Green Evening,” conjuring a suburban nighttime atmosphere mixed with California’s natural beauty.
Over time, the project’s sound has drawn praise for its mix of plaintive psychedelic rock and sweet folk melodies.
The Press
Pitchfork called their work “plaintive psychedelic rock with sweet folk melodies,” while Stereogum noted the music’s “dark edge” and “sonic substance.” The Fader highlighted “vibrant new textures,” and NPR pointed out GOON’s ‘90s college radio essence. Rolling Stone referenced “an image of SoCal summer painted in golden sludge,” Paste heard a “mystical” quality, Flood described “a dreamy combination of psych rock and muted grunge,” and Consequence of Sound remarked on “clean guitar rhythms” and “layered vocal harmony” blending nostalgic and transgressive moods. Nylon pointed to Becker’s vocals conjuring images of “sunshine and fertile gardens.”
GOON has previously supported Peel Dream Magazine, Squirrel Flower, Built to Spill, Remember Spots, Slow Pulp, Teethe, Jadu Heart, Spoon, and Reggie Watts, and appeared at festivals including Desert Daze, SXSW, Freakout Fest, Offbeat Music Festival, and Real Love Fest.
The new LP
Their upcoming LP will be on Born Losers Records, reflecting a new chapter. “Death Spells” announces this moment, not as a polished statement of arrival, but as a deliberate invocation: a single full of quiet tension, an undercurrent of dread, and the band’s collective will to keep moving forward.
