(7) Drive - 02/06/2025 vs. (10) Hungersite - 06/22/2025

I like the Hungersite cause it’s a true jam with all four (esp Trevor) contributing. Too many Goose jams are just Rick fests with everyone else in the background (which I have no problem with!). But for JOTY everyone has to contribute significantly.

This Drive is a two-guitar tank. Just rolling ahead with as a single solitary unit, rolling over terrain as if it wasn't there. It fits nicely with the other great first (real) show, first set drives from the last couple of years.

I have never fully grasped the wide affection for this Hungersite. IW@TS and I still think it is at best the third (and maybe the fourth or fifth) best jam from this show (still not sure how Bloodbuzz/Echo missed the bracket). Yes, it is a long up tempo jam followed by a mellow outtro jam, which seems to automaticlly qualify it as a "great jam" to some. But the bulk of it seemed a little monotonous to me (as Hungersites are wont to do). Relistening with fresh ears today, I get it a little more. The part where they shift in the more rhythmic rocking mode is more intersting than I recalled. [Aside: if anyone can name the song that Trevor's repeating baseline in the middle is cribbed from, I will be forever grateful as its been gnawing at me since the show; closest I can come up with is that Blur woohoo song but don't think that is quite it.] Anyway, its probably bracket worthy but is easy work for this monster Drive.

This is the toughest decision for me thus far. I love the interplay between Rick and Trevor in Hungersite but Drive is Drive lol

Flip a coin. No one cares

I really think folks are under rating this drive. Listen with good headphones and there’s a lot of more subtle stuff going on that is really sick. The last 5 minutes of hungersite is some of the most serene sounding stuff goose has ever done. I went with Drive but definitely check out this Hungersite.

I finally "got" this Drive recently. It took a while for some reason, I think I was maybe in a weird mood every time I tried listening to it, ha. Anyway, I underrated it on my playlist. I still don't get this Hungersite though. It's boring. The end is very nice, but doesn't totally save it for me. Drive for me easily here.

Listening to the 2/6 Drive again now - getting very similar vibes to the LOTR orchestra music during the scenes involving Rohan - surprised just realizing it now!

Contrary to quite a few comments saying only the last 5min is worthwhile, I think this hungersite is fantastic start to finish. Cotter's scattering drum fills in the first leg immediately locks me into the groove, then for the 2nd portion they settle into a really nice Blur tease (nice catch @The Principal) which i absolutely love, and then in the final section they cool off into a truly beautiful passage. Here Rick's tones come across as almost jerry-esque to me, very nice. Drive is one of my fave goose songs but this version is just alright. I do like the dual guitar in the first half of the jam, it's super hypnotic and just melty. The end of the jam is fine but doesn't reach the heights I'd like for a Drive. Hungersite upset

Hungersite excels
Tough matchup against the creme
De la creme of Drive’s

Another bummer matchup for me as I'd love to see both advance. As everyone else is saying the last 5 minutes of Hungersite are phenomenal. Even more special for it to have happened at a festival. But this Drive...come on. So good. It was right around then I started to get very excited about the return of 4-piece Goose.

Do I have to pick one?

Neither really does IT for me, alot of meandering and chonk which some folks really like. Not sure how this Drive even made the bracket?

HS gets the nod bc they tried harder and found a little more.

Going Hungersite here (against my rankings!), but this matchup was a toss-up for me. Both jams find a patient, atmospheric soundscape and just let it ride. And in both cases, it's glorious. I'm giving the edge to Hungersite because I legit haven't heard Goose play anything like the last 5 minutes of that jam. It's almost like a major-key spin on the Bob Don motif. But I wouldn't begrudge anyone who picks Drive here. It's such a vibe. The way they seamlessly transition from the first jam to the second jam is perfect. I love when the entire band steps back and lets the atmospherics do the work, and both of these jams are great examples.

Listened to both again this morning and still feel good about my Drive vote. That Mt Jam show was incredible tho, maybe the best non-Gonzo fest set of the year?

Love both of these but going Hungersite by the thinnest of margins.

Big time shades of the GOAT 2024 Cap Drive here, which I am a huge fan of; very cool to hear them explore that soundscape again in a new jam, but the last 5 minutes of Hungersite COMBINED with its ripping shreddy jam move the needle in that direction. The cool down jam the end of Hungersite is seriously gorgeous. Lots of love for both of these.

I’m not overly enthusiastic about Hungersite in general. It’s just one of those songs that rarely “does it for me”. And while I have Drive moving forward in my bracket…this might be one of those situations where I vote differently today than I thought I would when I filled out my bracket. This Drive is beautiful… don’t get me wrong. It just doesn’t seem to go anywhere spectacular or do anything special. I feel it settles into a groove, and just kinda stays in that lane. I can definitely imagine being down on the floor in Milwaukee for this, swaying back and forth, and enjoying every bit of the vibe… but as far as relistenability, I don’t find it to be particularly memorable.

This Hungersite from Mountain Jam, however, is above average in my book. It’s more complex, more diverse, and finds a great mid-song jam that certainly hints at Song 2 by Blur (you know it… the late-90’s grunge song that goes “Woo Hoo… I got my head checked. Woo Hoo... By a jumbo jet”). The last five minutes are wonderfully blissful, and work perfectly to bring things back down before the band segues into that fantastic Echo>Bloodbuzz>Echo sandwich.

Overall, the Mountain Jam show is a heater. You get Mikaela Davis on harp for Rosewood Heart and Weird Fishes, the only Killing Moon of the year, a great Jive Lee, the above-mentioned Hungersite and Echo>Bloodbuzz>Echo, and the Don’t Do It encore.. which is always such a fun way to end a show! Do I smell an upset?

I love the patience shown in the last 5 minutes of Hungersite and especially Trevor’s melodic lead approach. I also enjoy how they didn’t immediately move into Echo once they settled in that space, and gave the jam some time to breath and float along.

This Drive was the moment they put pedal to the metal and never looked back on this tour. Ultimately, I prefer the more complete jam in this Drive and it’s slowed patient build up, rather than this Hungersite, which while it has a awesome section, it takes too long to get there and only accounts for a minority of jam.

This Hungersite kicks ass.

Loooooove the last part of this Hungersite. I still don't think it's enough to defeat this Drive though

This Drive is another (to me) recycled idea - a really good jam that follows a lot of the lineage from the first jam of 4/7/24's dual-guitar churn. Great, but nothing spectacular.

The last 5-6 minutes of this Hungersite are some of my favourite music that the band made last year - the patiently unfolding ambient-leaning bliss is so out of their usual maximalist comfort zone and I hope that more of it shows up in 2026.

Neither of these are crazy spectacular jams and both handily lose in round 2 but I'm team Hunger here!

Drive, set match.. I loved the Mt Jam shows but this Hungersite doesnt do anything too special for me, despite some very beautiful work within, unfortunately any Hungersite jam has to make up for the fact that im prob on my way back from the bathroom at that point.. I vote for Drive to go thru only to lose to Psycho Echo in the next round.. if only!