Ignored Obscured Restored
Knowing my taste for contemporary music leans toward indie rock, my daughter and one of her best friends recently suggested that I listen to Geese. They were confident I’d like what I heard. So, I did — and they were right.
Brooklyn-based Geese released their latest album, Getting Killed, last September. Wikipedia’s list of their influences includes “the Velvet Underground, Television, the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radiohead, Women, Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Ween, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Harry Nilsson, the Beatles and Funkadelic.” These are all bands I love, and most have already been featured in a Song of the Week post.
The track that keeps me coming back is “Au Pays du Cocaine”.
A key feature of the cut is lead singer Cameron Winter’s gentle baritone. Many reviewers compare his voice to Thom Yorke (Radiohead) or Mick Jagger. To my ear, it sits closer in timber to Bill Callahan (Smog and solo): grounded, unhurried, and quietly expressive.
A simple piano-led motif and chiming guitar riff ride atop a steady rhythm track that gradually builds toward an energetic, atmospheric climax, without ever losing its emotional restraint.
The song’s title is a wordplay riff on the medieval myth of “The Land of Cockaigne” (Het Luilekkerland in Dutch), an imaginary realm of abundance, ease, and excess. Geese intentionally mangle this idea into mock-French, using it as a metaphor for a relationship built on unconditional acceptance. The narrator offers himself as a stable home base for a lover who needs the freedom to wander, evolve, and explore — with the reassurance that returning is always an option.
Like a sailor in a big green boat
Like a sailor in a big green coat
You can be free
You can be free and still come home
Getting Killed landed in the Top 5 on many year-end “Best of 2025” lists. Mojo placed it at #32, Pitchfork at #7, and Rolling Stone at #5. Not bad for an up-and-coming group — and even better when your kid turns out to be right!
Enjoy… until next week.