I really want to like Geese’s latest album, Getting Killed. There are even points when I do. Around the preacher-esque vocal wailings and world-inspired drumbeats, there are ‘70s funk groove breakdowns that I totally dig.
Album closer “Long Island City Here I Come” is a great example of what I’m referring to. Almost three minutes in, a jaunty bass line and rattling drums build and become a Red Hot Chili Peppers groove. Soon Cameron Winter slides in, repetitively droning, “Here I come.”
It’s a short moment in the album where I dug Getting Killed. Unfortunately, this snippet is overshadowed by the rest of the song, where Winter’s all-over-the-place scream-singing yowls contrast with too many layers of competing instruments. They pile onto each other until they create an ear-splintering, cacophonous din. This song is not an anomaly. Similar tonal choices occur throughout the work.
It’s clear Geese isn’t afraid to be abrasive with an intriguing and relatively new sound we haven’t heard in rock music recently1, especially in the folk rock/country rock sphere2. Taking elements of hardcore genres and mixing them styles of music more known for calmer tones, Geese rides against the normal convention of these genres of music typically sounding pleasant.
I’m aware that previous paragraph may sound snarky. I promise, I’m not trying to be.
I appreciate the talent it takes to create an album like Getting Killed. I’m also aware that there are reasons stylistically and thematically the band is choosing to have their record sound like this.
But when I listen to it, I really don’t get it.
I’d be more ok with it if I didn’t continue to see so much hype. Pitchfork touted this particular album as a 9.0. Fantano hasn’t released a review yet, but I expect a high rating, as he’s pro-Geese. The band’s 3D Country got a Light 8, Cameron Winter’s solo album Heavy Metal, the band’s vocalist, got a Strong 8.
Then, there’s The Atlantic headline that speaks for itself: “Finally, A New Idea In Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
I mean, Getting Killed it is new, in that, it’s different. But different doesn’t necessarily mean good!
This sentiment though is expressed frequently on spaces where music nerds hang out, like Music Twitter, Reddit’s indieheads, and of course, 4chan’s music board. Typically, you’ll see a bunch of people boarding the hype train when there’s an album with specific characteristics: Different. Weird. Hard-to-Listen-To. An album you have to sit with multiple times. Deep. Complex. Groundbreaking.
Sometimes, good music does have these characteristics. Though, I’d argue if these characteristics are absent from an album, it doesn’t it’s bad music.
But Bill, let people like what they like! Who cares why they like it?
Ok, ok, yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m trying to.
*beat of silence*
No. Sorry, I have to keep talking about this, because everyone else keeps talking about this damn band. I want you all know, you do not have to board the hype train. No matter how many YouTube comments, Pitchfork, niche music blogs or people from RYM tell you otherwise.
In fact, I’ll argue that this “hype train” idea of you either “getting it” or “not getting it” can be dangerous. It’s exclusive and exclusionary in a way that can mess with people’s brains.
And by that I mean, it can discourage people from checking out new music.
Consider this scenario for a second. You’re getting older and you don’t often check out new music as often as you used to. You hear all this hype about a new band, so you check them out. You listen and listen wondering what all the fuss is about, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t get into it.
Now, often, people fall into two camps after this happens:
Camp #1: I’ll convince myself/lie that I like it to appear cool to others.
Camp #2: I’ll ignore future hype trains and stop listening to music, because I obviously don’t “get it.”
Of course, there’s a third camp that often gets ignored:
“Maybe this stuff isn’t for me, and I try out other things that are less talked about or even what isn’t being talked about at all.”
Music discovery feels like it’s become a lost art. Sure, it still exists, but streaming services like Spotify have conflated it with something that doesn’t require work or more importantly, something you couldn’t be bothered to do. They thrive on you thinking:
“Oh, that pesky job of clicking play on random things and seeing what you like? That takes time and effort. Don’t worry about that. We’ll serve you what you actually like!”
So what ends up happening is you get a bunch of the same shit, again and again and again.
This is also, probably, why bands like Geese often stand out to critics and certain music heads. They’re so different from what the population is probably listening to that by sharing them, they feel “cool” for knowing about them. Then a new listener feels that they should like them to not appear like the rest of human-sheep population.
But that doesn’t have to be the yardstick that you, dear listener, use to find the music you like. Think of what Mrs. Frizzle’, the fourth grade teacher on the 90’s cartoon program The Magic Schoolbus, would say:
“Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”
Let me adapt it to a more musically-inclined catchphrase:
“Take a risk! Try out new music! It might suck!”
Ok, ok, so it’s not quite the same and surely isn’t as inspiring, but…
I feel like we’re so afraid nowadays to waste time by accidentally listen to bad music.
But that’s the whole goddamn point of discovery. It’s ok to listen to something you hate. Just move on and try something else if it doesn’t work for you. Sometimes, you’ll find you’ll cycle back years later and click with it too.
I’m hoping that happens with Geese, but if it doesn’t?
Who gives a fuck. There’s a lot of music out there to listen to. If I don’t get it and I’m not as cool as the people that like [x obscure band] that really doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is cultivating my own taste.
No matter how many people tell me that it’s shit.
But hey - what about you? Has there ever been a band that was super hyped you didn’t get? What bands have you discovered that you wish other people would talk about more?
Tell me in the comments below. Thanks for reading and stopping by.
Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart both thrive on music like this. I’d argue they do it much better too. Check out The Mothers of Invention’s Freak Out! or Beefheart’s Safe as Milk. Or even Trout Mask Replica, if you dare.
This is the part that’s a little more “groundbreaking,” at least to a lot of critics.