Geese – 4D Country Review

When the best in class release some extra bits and pieces, you perk up and listen in. Geese is responsible for one of the best records of the year – there is no doubt about it. Their heady days as a fine expert of indie rock is upon them and their bonus numbers cement this even further. Stuck in the cement already, wet mush settling in and wrapping around their legs, 4D Country, the neat EP follow-up to the nuclear brilliance of 3D Country, is a delight. Those delicate drums, a percussion delight and a lighter flourish on those guitar riffs bring out the title track in all its glory. Geese provide further examples of supreme, sublime lyrical expertise while navigating their sound through the minefield of indie rock.  

Thankfully Geese, who bring about crying cowboys and gunshots, stand tall and unique while conjuring spirited and intricate images. Where The Coral may be directly influenced by the Western, Geese would be making one should they find themselves with film cameras and not microphones. Isolated living is a heartbreaker and a joy of a lifestyle choice – the two can coexist and do so in the mould-infested walls of former solicitors’ offices. Geese marry this well but disguise it in cowboy hats and spurs, hoping to throw the more unsuspecting individuals off the scent. Keep an ear free for Cameron Winter – a gift of a musician with a gift of his own. His voice is one of the grandest going, a unique and tremendous pleasure to experience time and time again. It is one of the many intricate reasons 4D Country is such a pleasing piece. A seven-minute delight, one of the best tracks out there.  

Carnage is buried in there of course. It would not be Geese without strings waging war with guitars. Work it out on Jesse and fear Art of War. Sun Tzu gets no real mention but it is clear where his influence lies. Everything innovative about the indie rock scene can be found on 3D Country and 4D Country. These five tracks are an extension of excellent work to release just a few months prior. Frozen hearts in the Art of War maintain a next-level standard which Geese preserve well through their frantic pace and frenetic energy. Killing My Borrowed Time cries out for companionship – steady those bones in a light yet heartbreaking track. Upbeat orders from the instrumentals clash so well with Winter’s lyrics.  

If Geese hopes to go out on a high then Killing My Borrowed Time offers it, both in the lyrics Winter brings out and the instrumentals which surround them. Their cacophony of sound is a constant reminder of the need to innovate, the necessary momentum which comes from sounding different. EP closer Space Race initially feels ready to lampoon those who grew up on the late 1960s and early 1970s influences of shooting men toward the moon, but only time will tell if the distance on this rather out-there, step down of a track works. Winter toys with his vocal range, a shakier style and some sci-fi flickers end this excellent EP with a thump of a landing. Graceful? No. Does 4D Country make it in one piece? Absolutely.