Brooklyn five-piece Geese release their second album 3D Country on 23 June via Partisan Records. It is co-produced by the band and James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Shame) which is intriguing in itself.
Opening track ‘2122′ grabs you by the scruff of the neck. Difficult second album syndrome? Geese brush this aside as they begin 3D Country with a full-on assault on the senses. Frenzied guitars, thunderous drums and a thoroughly pumped vocal from Cameron Winter. With mythological references to the likes of Jörmungandr, Ragnarok and Kali Yuga, Geese have arrived with album number 2.
Title track ‘3D Country‘ is a very different beast. Slower paced and with a more clearly defined melody the narrative is explained by Winter:
“The lyrics are this story I had about a cowboy who does psychedelics in the wild west and fries his brain forever. I was imagining at first he’s this stoic, masculine character like out of a Cormac McCarthy novel, but then he unravels and sees his past lives in Ancient Rome, the Great Wall of China. Ultimately he finds himself in the end and it turns celebratory. I liked the idea of contrasting this strait-laced individual with that super mind-bending, interdimensional experience.
Similarly, the music is an amalgam of a lot of different country licks, a gospel-ish call-and-response part, things we typically wouldn’t do, but we wanted to push them through this textured, strange, psychedelic lens. We kept jamming around this one groove that’s in the verse for 10 minutes at a time, and then went back to take the best 30-second bits to piece it all together. The original version was over twice as long, and we bring some of those crazier sections back when we play it live and for the version of the song that’s in the music video.”
3D Country is an unashamedly ambitious album in its scale and scope. From the twangy honky-tonk tinged ‘Cowboy Nudes’ to the seven minute thrilling maelstrom of ‘Undoer‘ its an unpredictable journey and therein lies its delight. The latter begins with a splash of jazz but as it progresses becomes more and more outrageous with heavy rock guitar riffs before closing out on an unhinged blast of psychedelia accompanied by thrashing drums and screeching guitars. This is followed by the shortest track on the album, ‘Crusades‘. There is a hint of Bowie‘s ‘Heroes‘ here but of course once the vocal kicks in it can only be Geese.
“Everybody is born bleeding
But in my armor I am a man
I raise my fingers up through the ceiling
And you’ll see my God and you’ll be born again”
There are also more tender moments on 3D Country with the bluesy sway of ‘Gravity Blues‘ and the love song ‘I See Myself’, with its soulful groove. The first couple of lines are arguably the best on the album:
“I’ve been hit by the bus of love
That falling brick of you
Baby when there’s tears in your eyes
You don’t have to lie
You don’t need to hide from me
don’t want you to say anything
I see myself in you”
One of the highlights of the album is ‘Mysterious Love‘, wild and reckless. It’s an exuberant blast of a track with the guitars free to be set on fire one minute and delicately plucked the next. Screaming vocals and chaotic noise give way to a spoken word section. But back to those guitars which by the end sound like they are being whacked on the ground over and over.
This contrasts dramatically with ‘Domoto‘ which showcases the talent of the vocal. Akin to a rock ballad its an emotional track full of soaring parts and breathtakingly heartfelt imagery:
“I’ve been old since my eyes opened
Teach me kindness, show me cold
I’ve been awake too long, too long
Young and crying, eyes like prey
I see you in my head when I count my mistakes”
Closing track ‘St Elmo‘ begins with a brass section and what sounds like breaking glass – it’s reminiscent of a bar room brawl. The central character is perhaps drunkenly reflecting on life the universe and everything, looking for answers to the meaning of life.
Geese follow up 2021’s Projector with an album that erupts into life from the get-go. Vocalist Winter is joined in the band by guitarist Gus Green, guitarist Foster Hudson, bassist Dom DiGesu, and drummer Max Bassin. They have produced an album that takes a giant leap forward from their debut. At times complex and chaotic and at others calm and soulful. Geese are influenced by life and all its conundrums thus they reflect their creatively more in the abstract rather than the glaringly obvious . Drummer Bassin summarises 3D Country beautifully:
“It feels like going to the circus and instead of having a good time, everyone is trying to kill you.”
For more information on Geese please check out their facebook and instagram.
