A Lot on My Crate

What’s more to say about this album? That question is for the people who are already aware of this band and their accolades following their latest release from 2025. Most music journalists and newsletters have been head over heels and for this, while analyzing brick by brick. Before they were known for many works centered around jamming and rocking. Their catalyst happened around the release of 3D Country, an album I loved with how much soul was put into this rock revival kind of deal. Cameron Winter the vocalist has so much bravado now compared to then. If you listened to his earlier works with the band, he sounds nothing like he does today. It was a wild ride for them during 3D Country, but they didn’t want to stall the momentum they had. I saw them live in a small venue and they absolutely blown off the roof with a couple of teasers of the latest release. And now we hear of them performing on Jimmy Kimmel and they have booked a gig at Saturday Night Live. But before Getting Killed, Winter released his solo album, Heavy Metal. Despite its name, it was an Americana and singer songwriter passion project that was much more passionate and had a self reflection to it that made some tracks haunting and beautiful. Listen to “Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)” and see what I mean. The tragic personality that Heavy Metal has manifested has been transferred to Getting Killed. It’s a great stepping stone on what the band can accomplish now that Winter has shown his elaborate penmanship. I already wrote about “Taxes” from before and how I was so hyped on this album, so you know my enthusiasm and anticipation has been filled to the brim. This album has great chords and melodies that I’ve been coming back to many times, but the songwriting and tortured vocals Winter provides are next level even though be polarizing for some. This record has the subtext of a man trying to keep it together, but falls apart in front of their most valuable loved ones. Or there are battles to be won that they put up arms for. It’s like a somber self persecution, but without the theater. There’s a lot of emotion displayed and flayed on the table here. Not only that, but we have renowned hip hop producer Kenny Beats helping produce this thing from left field. There are many other reasons why people love this album, including me. So, I’ll do my best to say why.

I preemptively shower praise to this album and then we get into the opening act that is “Trinidad”. It’s an intense rocker where you have vocals just eating the mic and scream their freaking lungs out as he yells, “There’s a bomb in my car”. I appreciate it’s intensity, but it didn’t captivate me as much as the other songs here. However, “Cobra” with its country twang and overtones is so cheery in tone, but the main character being so burdened with the thoughts of their significant other. It’s such great songwriting of this flawed character. On “Husbands”, Winter sounds like an absolutely tortured church goer without a roof. The repeating “falling apart” lines are increasingly haunting. Then the background choir rises up on “Getting Killed”, which sounds so reminiscent from 3D Country’s revival rock. The background of “Islands of Men” has such a wholesome background. Along with this ear worm of a groove that crescendos to its peak, Winter has got people guessing what the lyrics are about. Some people say it might be attest to male loneliness, but I like the other interpretation that it’s about their guitarist, Emily Green, a trans woman facing her fears and accepting who they are against this cruel world. I’ve wondered how Green feels when she goes into this groove. This song gets me at a hyped high. “100 Horses” sounds like a motorcycle road trip down the countryside or desert. It’s a rebellious fist pump into the air that’s supposed to get you riled up. I absolutely loved the piano outro too. “Half Real” makes me feel like I’m at the pews at how spiritual this is, but it tells of a man who’s significant other is slipping away from him. Now, I thought this was already a devastating blow, but then it hits you with “Au Pays du Cocaine” like a bag of bricks. This took a few listens for me to grasp the pain this person is going through. The song sounds like a cowboy riding away into the sunset, but it’s not a happy nor proud ending. This ex-lover is now gone and our main character cannot accept it. It always hits me with, “You can stay with me and still come home” and “Baby, you can change and still choose me.” It’s so heart wrenching that this person thought there is still a sliver of a relationship to repair to the point of denial. Just a testament on how great this songwriting is able to reach into people’s hearts. The last act of this album is still as consistent in quality, as what we get into probably the most jam-like song with “Bow Down” as the instrumental makes me involuntarily move with our character moving swiftly in confidence. Absolute killer outro in this one. And you know my opinion of “Taxes” from an earlier blog post. It was great back then and it is great now. Just the explosion of sound as we see the light in the second half of the song. It’s a hopeful ray of light in these cumbersome clouds for most of the album. This song is very much needed as the penultimate track. I will always remember, “Doctor! Heal yourself!” The closer is such an appropriate tone of how spiritual they finish off. Winter using biblical references saying nothing is going to stop him and his fellow band members on accomplishing their purpose. The resolve on “Long Island City Here I Come” is palpable.

The album doesn’t have legs for me until the second song. Also, the titular track is a little too mellow for me. But these are very minor grievances. Even these songs have strong lyricism.

When it came to 3D Country, I’ve always have the thought that album is accessible to both new and old rock fans. However, this album blows 3D Country out of the water and I believe the same accessibility is the same for Getting Killed. This album has been polarizing despite being critically acclaimed, because many felt they couldn’t get into Winter’s vocals. That’s fair. But in my opinion, the vocals carry so much emotional weight along with the depressing word, memorable melodies, and riffs. I am going to remember this album for a long time as there are a handful of songs I come back to have sat through whole listens to this album many times. This is an album for the ages. I hope the best for this band and I love their works even more. With this momentum, let those be damned, if someone even suggests to nail them down.

FAVORITE TRACKS: COBRA, HUSBANDS, ISLANDS OF MEN, 100 HORSES, HALF REAL, AU PAYS DU COCAINE, BOW DOWN, TAXES, LONG ISLAND CITY HERE I COME

LEAST FAVORITE: TRINIDAD

You can purchase this album on Bandcamp and their discography is also available for streaming.

https://geesebandnyc.bandcamp.com/album/getting-killed