Geese Remind Us Why Real Bands Matter

A decent definition of a real rock band is that the drummer has to matter as much as the singer —  and while rock influences are all over the pop charts, that kind of group has been hard to find in the mainstream for much of this century. Even the biggest indie acts of the last 15 years or so tend to be solo singer-songwriters masquerading as bands, but Brooklyn’s Geese, the buzziest rock band in years, are a total exception. Sure, frontman Cameron Winter is a killer songwriter in the tradition of Lou Reed, Tom Waits, and Leonard Cohen, but as producer Kenny Bloom told Rolling Stone last year, “It’s not one genius and a bunch of other people who are just cool. This is a band where every member is actually really talented and does really interesting things.” 

On the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Rob Sheffield and host Brian Hiatt discuss all things Geese —  to hear the whole thing, check out Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above. Among other topics, their discussion traces the strange arc that brought Geese (Winter, drummer Max Bassin, guitarist Emily Green, and bassist Dominic DiGesu) to this moment. After their excellent but somewhat overlooked 2023 album 3D Country — which occasionally evokes the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion — the band was feeling dispirited. Then the surprise success of Winter’s superb solo debut, Heavy Metal, including the instant-classic ballad “Love Takes Miles,”  vaulted his band to a new level. 

When Geese came back with last year’s Getting Killed, with a sound Sheffield compares to an In Rainbows cover band taking on Talking Heads’ Fear of Music, the world was more than ready. It landed them an SNL parody and then an actual musical-guest slot on the show, with Winter gleefully perplexing an audience of millions by yelping his way through the climax of “Trinidad”: “There’s a bomb in my car!”  Paul Thomas Anderson and Benny Safdie showed up to film Winter’s solo show at Carnegie Hall, and rock legends from Julian Casablancas to Jeff Tweedy to Patti Smith have lined up to praise the band. In recent weeks, they won International Group of the Year at the Brit Awards, and Olivia Rodrigo reportedly showed up at a Paris show.

Thanks in part to Winter’s singular voice, Geese can be polarizing, which isn’t unusual even for acts destined for legend. Sheffield compares the reaction to the backlash the Strokes’ success stirred up early on — both bands share “a certain brattiness.”​​ But the band’s sound is also a moving target; each album so far has been wildly different from the last. And since the band apparently recorded a lot of extra music during the Getting Killed sessions, we may be about to get surprised again soon.

Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Check out nine years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with artists including Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Missy Elliott, Dua Lipa, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Yungblud, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.

From Rolling Stone US.