| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
I think that about sums it up. Geese have very quickly become beacons of hope for rock music. Touted as “saviours” and “innovators”, that’s not an expectation that gets carried lightly. As much as I’m firmly a “time will tell” kind of guy in regards to predicted classic status of albums, I can’t help but feel a little chuffed for them. I first caught wind of them back in 2021, their debut album ‘Projector’ was making minor waves in the underground. Singles like ‘Low Era’ and ‘Disco’ were signs of greater things to come. They were instantly boxed into the “post-punk” container by critics and given a decent amount of groundswell as a result. It was essentially a revival of a revival genre. Though it would still be a far-cry from their sophomore release, the kaleidoscopic ‘3D Country’.
Since 2023, this young group has done just about everything right. The success of their second major release saw them capitalising on the hype with spots on KEXP and Rolling Stone. The ‘4D Country’ EP, which boasted 5 new cuts left on the cutting room floor of the main album. Last but not least, the ‘Alive & In Person’ record, which showcased their immense talents as live performers. If you weren’t hyped for Geese’s rise after this point, there was never going to be any hope for you.
There’s also the matter of frontman Cameron Winter’s late 2024 solo release, ‘Heavy Metal’. A ridiculously impressive debut that proved Winter’s singer-songwriting capabilities. It was toned-down compared to the band’s work, existing in its own universe of malaise and longing. It had fans of Geese and Cameron curious as to how he was then going to follow up with the group down the line. Where do you go after a record as bombastic as ‘3D Country’, and a solo project as gentle as ‘Heavy Metal’? ‘Getting Killed’ might not be channeling the same vintage hard rock that their last was, but its influences seem to stretch further; they lean even quirkier.
Take the title track for instance. On the surface, is it such a departure musically for the band? No, not really. Listen closer though, do you hear it? The zany Ukrainian choir samples? The 6/8 time signature? The ‘Weird Fishes’-esque latter passage? It’s not nearly as straightforward as you might assume from a distance. It might sound like a total mess from the way I’ve described it, but Geese demonstrate on this album that they still understand the importance of cohesion. The bait-and-switch lead single ‘Taxes’ begins like a Cameron solo piece. Its tepid intro is driven mostly by some auxiliary percussion and a shaky Winter performance. It lurches tensely, like it’s hesitating. The pay-off is a sudden jolt into a much brighter, more visceral instrumental passage, and its riffs are reminiscent of something out of The Verve’s playbook. Even Winter vocally is going harder here. Again, two disparate ideas are melded into one fluid display.
The opener ‘Trinidad’ plays with this balance of expectation versus reality too. The bluesy swing on the verses coupled with its eye-widening freakout portions on the chorus read like a David Lynch horror short morphing into a piece of music. It’s the clashing of mundanity and psychosis that makes it so compelling. Cameron sells both aspects of this narrator’s psyche so convincingly that I’m left feeling genuinely concerned for his well-being. When Geese isn’t throwing everything and the kitchen sink at a song, they’re still painting vividly. ‘Au Pays Du Cocaine’ isn’t a heavy-hitter; it doesn’t need to be. A twinkling, lovesick plea to a would-be lover, its lyrical side is bursting with yearning. Instrumentally though, it instantly reminds me of a song like ‘No Surprises’. The terse guitar lines and plodding pace are oddly depressing, an air of melancholy forms above the track like a thundercloud above a sailor…
Geese save perhaps their grandest artistic statement for last in the form of ‘Long Island City Here I Come’. In what I can only describe as ‘The Stranger’ era Billy Joel on amphetamines, it sounds like the band leveling up in intensity. For all the fervor about this album’s potentially game-changing nature, this track feels easily the most indicative of where this band is headed. The highs of 3D Country are by no means surpassed here, but I can appreciate as a fan of the band for a minute now that they’re willing to go ballistic with it. The lack of pop sensibility on ‘Getting Killed’ is more than made up for with its unrepentant audacity. This record is not a stagnation, nor a regression… it’s a redirection.
Dan Will Review 