Nevermind ‘Getting Killed’: How ‘Projector’ laid the foundations for Geese, and why nobody noticed
There once was a time when the mention of ‘geese’ conjured up serene images of tranquil lakes or, perhaps, the vicious personalities of the species’ Canadian cousins, but those days are over. Now, the word can scarcely be uttered without Cameron Winter’s trademark drawl coming to mind – and we, like David Byrne, must ask ourselves, ‘How did I get here?’
Geese are an utterly unavoidable entity on the musical landscape of 2026. Ever since Getting Killed hit the airwaves in September 2025, the New York outfit seem to have mushroomed into everybody’s favourite band, and it is easy to see why. Cameron Winter’s songwriting is as ambitious and well-crafted as it is refreshing to hear in a post-punk and alternative landscape so often filled with identikit outfits indebted entirely to the past. Not to mention, of course, the PR machine that has been well-noted and endlessly discussed for its role in making that LP as colossal as it is.
For those fans who boarded the Geese boat around the time or in the immediate aftermath of Getting Killed, which, let’s be honest, is the vast majority of the band’s listenership, it is easy to view that record as the ground zero for the band. The very nature of music consumption in the modern age means that many listeners have no desire to delve into an artist’s back catalogue, preferring instead to focus on the here and now.
Exactly why this is the case is an argument for another time, but those listeners who haven’t explored Geese’s earlier output are, regrettably, missing out.
Let’s be clear, this is not a ‘Geese were better before they were popular’ article, nor is it written with an attitude of ‘I liked Geese before they were cool’. Getting Killed is an inarguably incredible, seminal album which is well-deserving of all the praise it has and continues to receive.
Cameron Winter is a fantastic songwriting and performer, and if he is the person to lead the indie, art-rock, post-punk landscape to new heights, then there are few better qualified for that position. Nevertheless, some of the band’s previous material is deserving of far more attention and acclaim than it has ever received, particularly as far as their 2021 record Projector is concerned.
Recorded primarily in Max Bassin’s basement, while the group were still in high school during the days immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, Projector is understandably less polished and not quite as mature in its songwriting as Getting Killed. Objectively, though, it is an incredibly ambitious record for a young band to strive for, and one which Winter and the gang pulled off with seemingly effortless grace and spontaneity.
In essence, Projector is where Geese truly began. OK, they had the self-released and rough-around-the-edges A Beautiful Memory a few years prior, but that 2021 LP was their first for Partisan, and it was the first to lay the foundations for the kind of sound that would eventually make Geese one of the biggest groups on the planet.
On the face of things, the album sticks much more rigidly to the prevailing post-punk sound of the day, with its moody basslines and anti-pop sensibilities. You don’t have to dig too deep into the tracklisting, however, to find the origins of the group’s more art-rock and experimental leanings, coming to the forefront on efforts like ‘Disco’ and the magnificently dynamic ‘Fantasies / Survival’, which remains one of Winter’s most underrated masterpieces.
Why Projector never quite got its dues upon its release back in 2021, aside from pockets of support in the independent and alternative spheres, is tenfold: Geese were still relative unknowns, and this was – for all intents and purposes – their first record, the covid landscape meant touring and promotion was virtually impossible, and they hadn’t had gained the kind of PR teams capable of creating a buzz akin to Getting Killed.
Even still, Projector stands as a signifier that Geese’s success story didn’t begin in 2025; Cameron Winter and the band have been showing incredible promise in creating expansive, ambitious, and experimental offerings for half a decade at this point, and while their 2021 effort might not be afforded the same attention as their 2025 smash, that doesn’t take away from its unbridled quality.
Were it not for the technicality of A Beautiful Memory, it might even go down as the greatest debut album of the 2020s thus far.
