Few modern rock bands seem as confident as Geese does on Getting Killed.
Brooklyn-based rock band Geese released their fourth studio album last month, Getting Killed. This album serves as a worthy follow-up to both their previous album from 2023, 3D Country, and frontman Cameron Winter’s more recent solo album, Heavy Metal. The brash, loud, often abrasive instrumentation of 3D Country has met its inevitable evolution and is now coupled with the eccentric, difficult-to-grasp lyricism Winter further honed on Heavy Metal. Geese has never been more confident or spirited than on Getting Killed: a brisk, infectious, and endlessly riveting album.
The songwriting on display in Getting Killed is strikingly original. Cameron Winter openly draws from numerous iconic singer-songwriters, yet his style avoids any direct comparison. At only twenty-three years old, he has now defined himself throughout multiple albums as a very distinctive lyricist. The meaning of Winter’s lyrics may be obvious instantly to some or never to others, but his vocals never allow the emotion to be in question. Winter’s voice, like his songwriting, draws endless comparison (from Tim Buckley to Julian Casablancas), yet is still so uniquely his own.
What exactly makes Winter’s lyricism on Getting Killed stand out? From the get-go, the album exudes confidence. In the attention-grabbing first track, “Trinidad,” Winter shouts “There’s a bomb in my car!” fifteen times (with backup from JPEGMAFIA). It’s unexpected, admittedly aggravating, and seemingly nonsensical, but what does it mean? I’m not sure myself, but I don’t have to be for it to work. The best songwriters don’t demand understanding; they make you feel, and Winter does exactly that.
On the other hand, Winter can be obvious when he wants to (almost comically so). For example, in the closing track, “Long Island City Here I Come,” he sings, “Like Charlemagne in Vietnam / Until I get home, I am not anyone” and “Like Charlemagne on the midnight bus / I have no idea where I’m going.” These lyrics also exemplify the throughline of the record: Winter embodies a man who feels aimless, pleading for a past love and convinced his life is over. He even discusses paying for a lobotomy to get rid of both the good and bad times, stating, “I’ve got no more thinking to do.” In this way, Winter continues to embody the fears of many younger people as he did on his solo record: the feeling that you’ve got life figured out and there’s nothing more in store for you. This idea is only further proven by another lyric on the last track: “Nobody knows where they’re going except me.” There’s an unspoken advantage to youth in songwriting: an advantage to not having the world figured out. Some artists, such as Andre 3000, have either discussed or reflected the difficulty of finding their art within themselves as they age. Youth offers an opportunity for discovery through what you create, and that often shows within the art, as it does on Getting Killed.
Through Getting Killed, Geese has cemented themselves as one of the most interesting and exciting bands out there, and I can only wait in anticipation for what they will do next.
Photo Credits to Lewis Evans
My name is Eli Pierce, and I am a writer from Madison, MS. I am a freshman majoring in History. My favorite albums are Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan and Among My Swan by Mazzy Star.
