By Martin Bradesca, Local Music Coordinator

[Partisan; 2025]

Key Tracks: “Trinidad,” “Islands of Men,” “Taxes”

Rating: 9/10

On Geese’s latest endeavor, Getting Killed, the New York rock group combines beautiful arrangements with bizarre lyricism and spurts of apocalyptic angst to create one of the most interesting and creative releases of the year so far. 

An album released in the apocalyptically confusing year of 2025 is only apt to begin just as chaotically as the modern age feels. The opening track “Trinidad” begins with a filtered guitar followed by a yelp, leading into a soupy mix of syncopated guitar and bass atop lazy drum machines. Frontman Cameron Winter croons in a style reminiscent of Sly Stone. Winter drifts between this soulful delivery with vocals just barely being held together, before completely going off the rails during the choruses in the best way. “There’s a bomb in my car” may be the most memorable line to an opening chorus I have heard yet, and it certainly evokes an image of the climate surrounding the album. 

Read more: Album Review: Maruja – Pain to Power

“Cobra” is a much sweeter track by comparison, with an almost doo-wop feel. The track feels significantly lighter than the live versions of the track, but this better lends itself to the arrangement. The syrupy guitar and vocals make for an entrancing listen that also results in the poppiest cut on the album. 

“Husbands” is perhaps the best example on the album of the effect Kenneth Blume’s (Kenny Beats) production has had on the band’s sound. Max Bassin’s drums are layered in a perfect collage, with unusual percussion peppered in every space of the sonic field. Otherwise, the instrumentation is incredibly minimal, with the only melodic information besides Winter’s voice being Dominic Digesu’s bass, before the drop adds the rest of the instrumental parts. Emily Green’s guitar line is shockingly simple yet incredibly effective to contrast Winter’s manic vocal performance on the track.

The title track “Getting Killed” is the loudest track on the album thus far (besides the opener) and feels the most similar to Geese’s other work. It also features some of the best lyrical work on the album, featuring Winter’s musings on his place in the world: “I’m trying to talk over everybody in the world / I’m getting killed by a pretty good life.”

“Islands of Men” is an exemplary showing of the meditative, trancelike atmospheres Geese have become extremely adept at introducing in their songs. Lyrically focused on the male loneliness epidemic, Winter criticizes the “islands” modern men have gone to great lengths to isolate themselves on. The song builds in a metronomic consistency that locks the listener in so well that when a chord changes or a new instrument emerges, the ear is instantly drawn in. The song ends, like a few on the album, in a crescendo of noise that feels like acquiring salvation from a deity you didn’t know still existed.

Single “100 Horses” feels like a Vietnam-era rock song rewritten for 2025. Galloping drums and bass evoke the song’s title as Cameron shouts, “Everyone must smile in times of war.” A great example of apocalyptic and existential lyrics, Geese celebrate the absurd by imagining 100 horses dancing while reminding themselves of their own mortality.

Finding a presence on TikTok, this single was the first sign of great things to come from the project. Lead single “Taxes” seems to be written from the perspective of someone with great wealth, who knows of their sins but still refuses to pay what they owe to the common people: “If you want me to pay my taxes, you better come over with a crucifix.” 

“Bow Down,” while sporting some of the best lyrical moments on the record, falls flat production-wise. Blume perfectly assembles layers of percussion and harmonies on previous tracks, but neuters the energy of this song, especially by cutting off the repeated percussive guitar early. In addition, the drums do not feel nearly as thunderous as they do on tracks such as “100 Horses”

The album’s massive and all encompassing closing number, “Long Island City Here I Come,” is more reminiscent of Winter’s previous solo album Heavy Metal than previous Geese works. The song, previously performed solo by Winter alongside Heavy Metal material, still bears the trademark frantic piano and stream-of-consciousness, semi-religious lyrics of his solo work, this time backed by a krautrock-inspired rhythm section. 

Overall, Geese’s latest effort is fresh and creative, managing to somehow break new ground within rock music. Winter clearly learned a lot while creating his solo album and brought his newfound knowledge back to the band, making them sound better than ever. While different from their previous work, Getting Killed is perhaps Geese’s strongest project to date. The band’s chemistry and energy throughout the work is palpable. With lyrics that feel extremely relatable to the state of the world today, the album is, without a doubt, an important work of its era.