geese: How ‘getting killed’ has brought rock back to life

This past weekend, I used my time to learn a few songs from my new favorite band at the moment. The world of music has proven to be an ever-changing place, moving with the vibrations that artists have carefully constructed to incite emotion from the listener for centuries. In the 1950’s, artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly among others brought the genre of Rock to the forefront of music. By the end of the 1960’s, Rock had flourished into several different sub-genres such as Psychadelic Rock, Surf Rock, and the early foundations of Metal that would soon explode into the underground music world the next decade alonside genres such as punk rock. Although classified as a psychadelic rock band, The Velvet Underground’s set the stage for one of the most prominent rock genres of the 21st century—Indie Rock.

The Velvet Underground would soon be a major influence to the rise of counter-culture Indie Rock in the 80’s with bands like The Pixies and R.E.M. before its most prominent peak in the 90’s and early 2000’s with bands like Pavement, The Strokes, and the newest Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The White Stripes. While artists such as Mac DeMarco, and Tame Impala managed to gain appeal from music lovers in the 2010’s, Indie Rock, alongisde other forms of rock, have since retreated back to the underground of music. Almost a quarter-century after the Manhattan Indie Rock band The Strokes released their critically acclaimed debut album, Is This It, a band from across the East River in Brooklyn has become the face of Indie Rock and may just have what it takes to bring Rock music back to the mainstream—Geese.

The differences between Geese and The Strokes are not hard to find. The latter had immediate fame and recognition while Geese has been around for nearly a decade, having been formed in 2016. The Strokes, like many other Indie bands, are known for their simplistic and stoic stage-precenes that coincide with their music, but Geese might be the most complex Indie Rock band yet. Led by frontman Cameron Winter, the band has become a staple in not only the Indie scene, but the experimental scene as well, drawing comparisons to music icons such as Radiohead and David Bowie. The group gained nationwide attraction with the 2023 release of their 3rd album, 3D Country, but their 4th and most recent album released on September 26th, 2025 Getting Killed, has sent the band into a whole new direction of stardom.

The flowers Geese has recieved is no surprise to the fans who have been listening. As someone who discovered them after the release of 3D Country, songs like I See Myself and Cowboy Nudes have been a constant in several playlists I listen to throughout my daily life. While underground artists fanatics already knew of the Brooklyn-based group, their exposure skyrocketed when frontman Cameron Winter released his solo album, Heavy Metal. Winter’s droning vocals never seemed to waver between his solo album and Geese’s new album. My personal favorite on the band’s new album, Cobra, is a build up that gives listeners the sense of nostalgia. Getting Killed is formed through buildups, from the increasing tempos of tracks like Taxes, to the increasing intensity of Long Island City Here I Come, Geese finds a way to keep listeners on their toes. These tracks perfectly offset slow, yet powerful grooves such as Au pays du Cocaine and Islands Of Men. My favorite riff to play right now is from 100 Horses as Winter’s beautiful Gretsch guitar riff is simplistic, yet catchy. From the band’s unconventional opening track, Trinidad to the insane cowbell and cymbal-dominated drumming performance of drummer Dominic DiGesu on the last track, Long Island City Here I Come, Geese has become the next big name in the Indie Rock world.

Although, I sadly was unable to attend Geese’s Chicago shows on their Getting Killed world tour, I hope to keep watching videos of their impressive live performances of their new material as they finish up their American leg at the end of 2025, and being their European leg of the tour in