Geese: Getting Killed [Album Review]

Geese
Getting Killed
Partisan Records [2025]

“A chaotic masterpiece where absurdity and heartbreak collide—and Geese finally sound undeniable.”

Album Overview: I’ll admit it—I brushed Geese off with Projector (2021) and 3D Country (2023). They felt clever but never quite essential. Then Cameron Winter’s solo record Heavy Metal landed last December, and suddenly his warped, tender songwriting clicked. That project cracked something open, and Getting Killed feels like the band leaning into the emotional clarity Winter unlocked—while still refusing to play it safe. Formed as high school friends in Brooklyn, Geese have grown into one of the most unpredictable acts of their generation.

Getting Killed isn’t a continuation so much as a controlled explosion. Where the first two albums hinted at potential, this one thrives on dismantling expectations. With producer Kenneth Blume, Geese push extremes: chaotic textures crash against fragile passages, absurdist humor rubs up against genuine heartbreak. It’s an album born from Winter’s sharpened songwriting, but the whole band brings the fire.

Musical Style: This record stitches together restless grooves, fractured riffs, and constant left turns. Drum machines grind under jagged guitars, choirs brush against punk-shouted chants, and the band veers from free-form chaos into stomping, festival-ready hooks. Forget polish—Geese are chasing momentum and surprise, building songs that feel like they could collapse or take flight at any second.

Evolution of Sound: Geese have always been slippery, but Getting Killed marks their boldest shift yet. Projector toyed with post-punk edges, 3D Country swaggered through dusty Americana parody. Here, they rip those ideas apart and reassemble them into something stranger, sharper, and more direct. Less genre exercise, more pure instinct.

Artists with Similar Fire: Think Black Midi’s art-damaged chaos, Parquet Courts’ scrappy abrasion, or The Fall’s manic vision. You’ll also catch echoes of Talking Heads’ rhythmic experiments and Liars’ shape-shifting unpredictability. Add in the wiry precision of Television, the swaggering urgency of The Strokes, the uncompromising intensity of Swans, and the playful weirdness of Deerhoof, and you start to see the full picture. And underneath all the madness, there’s still a flash of Rolling Stones flare—those moments where swagger, looseness, and danger all tangle together in the same groove.

Pivotal Tracks: “Taxes” kicks the door in with warped anthem energy. “100 Horses” rides martial repetition into something both menacing and oddly comforting. The leaked “Trinidad” hinted at this record’s left-turn streak, its warped groove standing apart from the singles. “Husbands” shows the band can drop a surging anthem without losing their edge, while “Bow Down” drags things into darker territory. The self-titled track is a highlight—Winter weaving his vocals through Ukrainian choir samples in a wild, glorious tangle. Closer “Long Island City Here I Come” crawls out slow before erupting into an unhinged finale.

Lyrical Strength: Winter’s voice is the hinge for all this chaos. He mutters, wails, and croons with equal conviction, turning tossed-off lines into gut-punches. His writing thrives on contradiction—sarcastic and sincere, dismissive and vulnerable. Whether shouting “THERE’S A BOMB IN MY CAR” or whispering crooked love lines, he makes the absurd feel human.

Final Groove: Getting Killed is the moment Geese stop being a band with potential and start being a band you can’t ignore. It’s unpredictable, messy, and exhilarating, the kind of record that keeps revealing new corners every time you spin it. Play it loud, play it often—Getting Killed is the record that proves Geese aren’t just chasing the future, they’re writing it.

GEESE LINKS
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