Geese - Getting Killed (2025) [Hi-Res / DD+ Atmos]

Geese have grown exponentially more interesting with each project they've released. Their first two albums—2021's Projector and 2023's 3D Country—are, respectively, a "post-punk" LP that sounds more like 2000s alt-rock radio and a "cowboy rock" record that has moments of brilliance but often feels, inexplicably, like ska-leaning Lite FM fare. In both cases, it's hard to tell what's tribute, what's loving parody, what's cynical copypasta, and what was plain-old boredom. Maybe this was the idea all along, though, because their new album finally nails that disorienting mix. Like their earlier efforts, Getting Killed finds Geese trying on different styles like vintage clothes, but singer Cameron Winter and Co. now wear them in a way that's thoroughly original.

This is clear from track one, "Trinidad," which reaches a previously unseen level of catharsis when Winter screams "THERE'S A BOMB IN MY CAR!!!!!" over Max Bassin's crash-heavy free-jazz drums struck with heavy-metal intensity; Dominic DiGesu's emphatic bassline, still a bit Arctic Monkeys-coded but appropriately employed here; Emily Green's wailing, detuned guitar; and blaring trombone from guest artist Nick Lee. Next up is "Cobra," a country-rock cut that's as excellent as 3D Country endeavored to be. The title track sounds ironically joyful, a mountain choir rising up to meet Winter as he belts out some of the record's most crushing lyrics: "I can't even taste my own tears/ They fall into an even sadder bastard's eyes."

Other songs also dress emotional irony in bonfire-bright sonics: "Half Real" is a middle finger to anyone who doesn't believe in true love, cloaked as a beautiful ballad. And "Taxes" is a gospel number in which Winter proclaims that he deserves damnation but not taxation. "If you want me to pay my taxes/ You better come over with a crucifix," he moans. "You're gonna have to nail me down." The album ends with "Long Island City Here I Come," another heavenly invocation, in which the titular Queens neighborhood is likened to the City in the Sky. In Geese's hands, getting killed sounds pretty good. © Raphael Helfand



Tracklist:
1 Trinidad
2 Cobra
3 Husbands
4 Getting Killed
5 Islands of Men
6 100 Horses
7 Half Real
8 Au Pays du Cocaine
9 Bow Down
10 Taxes
11 Long Island City Here I Come