Geese
are a quintet of native Brooklyners who formed during their freshman year of high school. They are also one of the most hyped exports to emerge from the borough in years with a complex and energetic sound built from scraps of post-punk, prog, and a deep lineage of New York rock & roll. During the front half of 2020, the band's home-recorded demos suddenly became a target for serious label attention and, having just graduated from high school,
found themselves fielding offers from both sides of the Atlantic. New York's
Partisan
and London's
PIAS
won out in a joint deal resulting in the release of the band's full-length debut,
Projector
. Members
Cameron Winter
(vocals, keyboards),
Gus Green
(guitar),
Foster Hudson
Dominic DiGesu
(bass), and
Max Bassin
(drums) project a sense of confidence and benefit from the kind of chemistry forged during youth. Over the album's nine tightly arranged cuts,
come off far more professional and experienced than they have a right to be. Echoes of
Television
,
the Strokes
, and
Alt-J
, are present in their blend of intricate guitar lines and kinetic rhythms. Opener "Rain Dance" is a captivating and frantic bit of psychedelic post-punk that immediately sets the album's nervy tone. On "Low Era," they mix spidery guitar runs with a moody groove and
Winter
flexes his range with a rough-hewn falsetto oddly reminiscent of late-'70s
John Martyn
. Throughout the set,
cover a nice range of dynamics, indicating the depth of their influences and tastes.
is an impressive debut and all-around solid effort from a band at the start of a promising career. ~ Timothy Monger