Geese – Projector

Geese’s Projector is the 2021 debut from a Brooklyn quintet who were still in their teens while making it, and that youth is part of what gives the record its charge. Across nine songs, Geese turn restless anxiety about the future and pent-up frustration with the present into something wiry, immediate, and surprisingly assured. It arrived after the band’s home-recorded demos drew serious label attention, leading to a joint release through Partisan and PIAS.

What makes Projector stick is the way it balances nervous momentum with a wider sense of shape. The band pull from post-punk, prog, and New York guitar music, but the songs are tightly arranged rather than merely referential. “Rain Dance” opens in a frantic rush, “Low Era” pairs spidery guitar lines with a moody groove, and “Disco” stretches out into a nearly seven-minute statement piece that helped frame the group as a new Brooklyn buzz band.

There is a homemade origin story behind all this too: Geese began recording together in a basement studio improvised with sneakers as mic stands and blankets over amps after school. You can still hear some of that make-do energy in the album’s looseness, even as the playing sounds far beyond the band’s age. For a debut, Projector feels both ambitious and lean, a smart pick if you like your indie rock tense, melodic, and a little unruly.

Reviews

• With impressive performances and a few promising moments, the young Brooklyn post-punk band clearly knows all the right moves – Pitchfork