Music Review: Goatroper’s Self-Titled Debut Album
The Minneapolis-based country-folk band shows off their storytelling chops on their charming first album.
Goatroper album artwork. Photography: Madalyn Rowell;
album art: Rudy Jansen.
It’s a great time to be an Americana fan living in the Twin Cities, especially if you lean in the country and/or old-time direction. Over the past couple years, a new crop of acts have appeared, steadily building a thriving scene to the point where you can pretty much go out any night of the week to see some solid honky-tonk and maybe even get some line-dance lessons before the show.
Goatroper is one such band; they appeared on the scene about two years ago and quickly became fixtures on the local circuit. They released their first single, “You Don’t Rub Me Right,” last November (with an exclusive premiere right here at Adventures in Americana!), and tomorrow they drop their full-length self-titled debut album.
Bandleaders Abbey Janii and Mike Lee bring boatloads of wide-ranging musical experience to Goatroper, and the result is an adorable concoction of folk, country, old-time, and maybe even some ragtime thrown in there. The duo, who met in South Dakota over a decade ago and reconnected in Minneapolis in 2021, share songwriting duties. They trade lead vocals, often singing the songs they wrote, but their voices hit a sweet spot when they harmonize.
I’ve noticed an enjoyable contrast between their songwriting styles. Lee is a verbose raconteur, piling his verses with conversational storytelling loaded with quirky characters; memorable scenarios; and colorful, often humorous (but sometimes poignant) detail. Janii, on the other hand, tends to write first person narratives that play out like one-sided conversations. But several of the songs on the album blend their styles, showing the potent creative alchemy of their musical partnership.
Both are fond of place-specific songs, which often take place in their adopted home base. “Milwaukee Ave” is a bouncy piano-driven number about a little historic stretch of street in the Seward neighborhood. Honky-tonk rocker “When the Sun Goes Down” accurately portrays the bitching about living here that goes on in Twin Cities dive bars every winter by people who will probably never leave.
Mike Lee & Abbey Janii of Goatroper. Photo courtesy of the artists.
There’s something wholesome and folksy about Goatroper’s songs, both in the instrumentation (which delivers plenty of waltzes, countrified fiddle and dobro) and the lyrics. From a bittersweet eulogy to the decline of old-fashioned culture in “Small Towns” to the anecdote about hanging out with John Prine in “I Guess It’s True What They Say” to the lovey-dovey duet about commitment “Long Haul,” Janii and Lee aren’t afraid to get sentimental. Even their songs about hard drinking and hookups have a certain cozy feel in the way they’re delivered.
The 10 tracks on Goatroper are a charming introduction to a fun and creative Americana band that’ll hopefully continue to sparkle on the Twin Cities music scene for years to come. Be sure to follow them for a chance to see them live!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee.
Carol Roth is the primary writer, social media manager, podcast producer and event-calendar updater for Adventures in Americana. By day she’s a marketing writer/brand strategist. In addition to playing guitar and songwriting, she writes self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley.
