Geologist – ‘Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?’ album review: Dance music for guilty feet
In 1984, George Michael released ‘Careless Whisper’ with the line, “Guilty feet have got no rhythm.” In 2026, Geologist has made the perfect dance album for those guilty few.
The Skinny: As one third of Animal Collective, this is the first solo offering from Brian Weitz, also known as Geologist. After working with the Collective for a couple of decades, a solo album is long overdue, and it feels as though this debut is representative of the amount of time which has now passed in his creative career.
I say that because of how many different genres are incorporated into this ten-song-long tracklist. It feels as though the album, Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights? can’t settle on a style or genre in what is predominantly a pretty wonderful pocket of indecisiveness.
The album starts with ‘Oracle Road’, which uses drone-like chords that scatter and scratch. In the background, you can hear something being plucked, but the sound it makes barely pierces through those initial huge hits of sound. It barely sounds like a song, more like a mesh of sounds that hang on by a thread, and it isn’t until some tribal-adjacent percussion makes itself at home that there is something recognisable as music playing.
While the first song is a bizarre concoction, that mosaic of music doesn’t stop there. With every song, we are introduced to a new rhythm, time signature, and style. If you want to hear jazz, you’ve got it. If you want to hear post-punk, you’ve got it. If you want something avant-garde, that’s right, you’ve got it.
The record is messy, but that seems to be the point. It’s abstract in its brilliance, taking what you know about music and rhythm and twisting it into something barely recognisable. It’s hard to listen to initially, but once you settle in, exciting glimmers peep through this wall of sound cracks.
A personal highlight is on the song ‘Color in the B&W’, a minimalist track that consists of quiet pieces of instrumentation, fleeting as if being played by someone in a passing car. The only thing consistent throughout is a drum solo that embodies a free-jazz-esque quality. It’s a real treat to listen to, and highlights the musical excellence that went into this debut LP.
There is so much variety on Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights? that there is no doubt a song for everyone; the difficulty is finding it. The album is tough to listen to at times, so much so that I imagine some listeners will be put off, but patience and perseverance are rewarded on what is unmistakably a layered and impressively put together frolicking of sounds.
The Verdict: While not an album for everyone, if an avant-garde blend of different genres sounds like your kind of thing, Geologists’ debut is a must-listen. It’s as confusing as it is brilliant, with pockets of music buried deep in each track that take some digging to reveal but are worth the effort.
Defining track: ‘Color in B&W’
Release date: January 30th, 2026 | Producer: Geologist | Label: Drag City
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.