Since putting out their debut album ‘Projector’ in 2021, Geese have become one of the most respected bands of their generation. The former NME Cover stars have built a fierce reputation for making consistently interesting, experimental indie–rock that makes you believe original ideas still exist, even as they reference acts who’ve come before them. Their growth has been a word-of-mouth sensation, chatter around that first LP – a solid slice of post-punk thrills – getting increasingly louder with 2023’s country-tinged rock’n’roll record ‘3D Country’ and frontman Cameron Winter’s acclaimed solo debut ‘Heavy Metal’ last year.
Now, with their third album ‘Getting Killed’, Geese feel on the verge of proper cult superstardom. That’s in part thanks to ‘Heavy Metal’ carving out more space for Winter as a magnetic presence – the kind of artist where you don’t know if his interview answers are real or bullshit, and whose stream-of-consciousness seems to produce work that feels both profound and impenetrable. It’s also thanks, though, to the whole band’s commitment to keeping their fans guessing, trying out new things and not being afraid to get a little weird.
That approach remains intact on ‘Getting Killed’, obvious from its opening – ‘Trinidad’’s noodling guitars and Winter wailing, “There’s a bomb in my car” over blasts of discordant noise. Sonically, this album feels like a natural stepping stone from both ‘3D Country’ and ‘Heavy Metal’, losing more of the Americana feel of the former in favour of warm but unconventional rock’n’roll collages. The title track centres around a bluesy guitar riff and a cut-up loop of a Ukrainian choir layered over it, while ‘Taxes’ grows from syncopated percussion to a chiming guitar topline that could have been pulled from a Stone Roses record.
There’s a lingering feeling of something spiritual happening on ‘Getting Killed’. Sometimes that comes through in Winter’s delivery, which often feels like a rambling but engaging preacher delivering his teachings to a rapt congregation. At others, it’s the imagery he uses in the lyrics, like in ‘Taxes’ when he sighs, “I should burn in hell / But I don’t deserve this”, and later warns: “If you want me to pay my taxes / You better come over with a crucifix / You’re gonna have to nail me down”.
In the lead up to ‘Getting Killed’’s release, Geese told Rolling Stone they had spent one day in the recording process so focused on choosing a handclap sample that they’d forgotten “to make the song”. There’s so much going on in this album that it feels like it would have been easy for the five-piece to lose sight of the bigger picture, yet for all its abrupt shifts and intricate details, ‘Getting Killed’ somehow doesn’t ever feel like there’s too much at play or like its creators aren’t in complete control. Instead, this is a band living up to their reputation as exhilaratingly free-spirited, not so much proving they deserve all the accolades and fervent fanaticism bubbling around them but demanding it.
