A Hurricane In A Bottle: Geese – Getting Killed Review

Geese are profoundly anti-cliche. Their avant-garde antics and general arch nature of unconformity have always been telltale signs, but artists are always at the whims of their unforgiving industry. When frontman Cameron Winter released his debut solo album Heavy Metal (2024) at the tail-end of last year, its cult success could’ve so easily left Geese’s previous work a pariah, the jealous ex-partner forlorn in the wake of Winter’s newfound prosperity. Fortunately for the ever-waning innovation of the indie-rock scene, Geese didn’t falter at the hurdle many might have expected them to. Citing Winter’s solo voyage as a key point of inspiration, Geese have spread their wings and produced a stunning album which is terribly captivating and offensively fresh. Getting Killed (2025) arrives as the New York four-piece’s third full-length LP, a honking masterpiece that truly only they could have made. 

Winter’s solo work, whilst its own separate entity, has been transformative, and Heavy Metal (2024) feels as though it has given the flock a redefined sense of purpose. An unwavering bravado of determinism lurks beneath his famed mutterings on many of the band’s newest offerings. ‘Half Real’ and ‘Au Pays du Cocaine’ are Cameron Winter classics fitted with all the pomp and frills of the full Geese outfit, whilst ‘Islands of Men’ is laser-focused on its emotional intention as opposed to the verbal cha-cha Geese songs often dance. Where much of their previous work beats around the proverbial bush with oddball and satirical lyricism, ‘Islands of Men’ is deeply devoted to hammering home its accusatory point via an unrelenting guitar riff and rigorously repeated phrases: “You can’t keep running away”. 

Geese’s songwriting has always been bountiful with wackiness, whimsy and wonder- so to hear of this evolved altruism may have long-time Geese geeks quaking. Fortunately, come the end of the three-minute opener ‘Trinidad’, Winter has yelled “There’s a bomb in my car!” a staggering 15 times- I mean, what truly says whimsy better than the threat of vehicular explosion? Other notable lyrical absurdities include, but are not limited to, requesting to wash a partner’s feet forever, references to crucifixion as a means of tax enforcement and “100 horses dancing”. Whilst these word-choices can be construed as raving madness, it always serves a purpose in Winter’s musical approach, often taking the lyrical road least (if ever) travelled, to dig up emotions the listener didn’t even know they had. There’s always method to the madness, forever outlandish yet never nonsensical. 

Getting Killed (2025) feels more contained in its scale yet stranger in its style. For a band who are hailed as the “most exciting band in guitar music” every other Tuesday, with a frontman regularly being placed in conversations that see him brushing shoulders with the songwriting elite of earth, jumping the gun would have been an easy but costly mistake. Geese have avoided dialling their eccentricities to eleven for the sake of a statement, instead opting for a sonically assured voyage into their esoteric anthems, which tames the unkept beastliness of their earlier sound. The departure of guitarist Foster Hudson since their sophomore album 3D Country (2023) draws back the wild and savage guitar slashes that occupied many a Geese track of the past, making way for the now four-piece to craft poised, tricky and magnetic soundscapes on which the idiosyncrasies of Cameron Winter can flourish. 

This change displays new dimensions of the wickedly talented instrumentalists that make up Geese. Guitarist Emily Green seems to possess otherworldly knowledge of how to communicate with her six-stringed axe, producing intimate yet enthralling guitar lines. Dominic DiGesu anchors these performances with rigid basslines that keep the larger-than-life lunacies of his bandmates bound to this dimension, whilst Cameron Winter is wise beyond his years as ever, bringing with him the candour and distinctive vocals of his solo work. Lastly, simply calling drummer Max Bassin talented is a disservice to both him and the English language. The early-twenties, skin-slapping prodigy is incredibly deft for a man whose job it is to bash pads with sticks to create a racket. Some might consider his abilities to be stifled by the more reserved and contained approach the band have taken to this new record, and whilst I did sometimes find myself yearning for his gut-busting runs that 3D Country (2023) was littered with, his musicianship is arguably challenged all the more on Getting Killed (2025), highlighting the band’s maturation through his restraint. 

Bassin’s drumming truly excels on closing song ‘Long Island City Here I Come’, a marathon of tight percussion that occasionally divulges into these alternative sections with swaggering basslines. The instrumentation of this track, much like on ‘100 Horses’ and title track ‘Getting Killed’, are chugging crawls that lay beneath Winter’s enigmatic drawl. The passion with which these young artists play is brimming at the surface of these pieces, and it regularly feels as though, should they be allowed to, they’d jam out on them until their fingers fall off. 

Considering their taste for the bizarre, Geese have a flair for the catchy. ‘Cobra’ is a swaying waltz that toes the lines between the desire for the eternity of love and the shame in yearning for another, expressing the guilt in finding the self to be insufficient. Its bouncing tenderness softens the abrasive edges of Winter’s voice to tremendous avail. Lead single ‘Taxes’ is similarly made of that tumultuous concoction of enticing melody and tragic lyricism. “I should burn in hell”, Winter excruciatingly exclaims. Ultimately though, when considering the standout track of this album, I keep returning to ‘Bow Down’. A wailing and heavy track layered with quaking guitars that run in tandem with Winters’ piercing words. Complete with a classic Zeppelin-esque breakdown and religious imagery, ‘Bow Down’ is reminiscent of iconic and stylistic classic-rock. It is a force to be reckoned with that truly encapsulates the buzz around the Brooklyn four-piece; a vehement statement of the power Geese possesses. The New Yorkers have captured a hurricane in a bottle with their third LP. I realise the expression is usually ‘lightning in a bottle’, but the palpable shaking and auditory whiplash you experience from listening to it are much more akin to that of a violent tornado. It’s an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of purposeful syncopations and sweet racket, which Cameron Winter ultimately holds up to your ear and wails his wildest musings down. Following Winter’s recent solo success, questions of Geese’s future had become embroiled in discussions of the young prodigy’s potential. However, those murmurs have died a swift death following the arrival of Getting Killed (2025) and Geese once more stand tall as THE rock band to be or beat in 2025.

Words By Daniel Brown