Written by By Katrina Brown Hunt, CNN
New York is a rock-and-roll mecca, a place where even after the punk underground loses its gloss, youth culture lives on. It’s only natural that a new wave of young artists and musicians would emerge in its aftermath.
New York Has a New Band of Buzzy Post-Punk Teens: Geese, four earnest-looking young things, sound like a band with a point to prove and only a time and place to indulge it.
The group, whose debut album was released July 13, has had a long and growing relationship with the city’s festivals. At what was then Riot Fest , its live set in the late-90s was responsible for one of the few shows in history to include a car in the crowd — but that’s a story for another time.
Speaking recently in the art district of Brooklyn, the band’s bassist, Abby Dimitroff, said while New York is both a critical and administrative proving ground, it can be “fraught with problematics” that can make it hard to navigate.
“A venue full of people can be overwhelming, and can make you feel like you don’t fit in, like you’re a novelty, or a band with no real purpose,” Dimitroff said.
The all-girls, all-age trio have chosen to stay away from such language in favor of thanking those who have supported them.
Music journalist Nicole Biancolli says the Deception building in the East Village is a “house of noise.” Credit: Courtesy of Coney Island Guerilla Union/Nicole Biancolli
Like their first album, the members are close in age, and the blend of their distinct voices and high energy is more than noticeable. Dimitroff’s not-so-subtle tendencies to tickle the edges of the microphone are a constant reminder that if anything, this is a band with a purpose: to make sounds and inspire feelings.
But that’s not all. Music journalist Nicole Biancolli, a friend of Dimitroff, said Geese have a serious commitment to DIY music in the vein of 2002’s well-received “Word Rings,” from underground New York ska brand The Wardrobe.
Biancolli said the Deception building in the East Village is a “house of noise” with multiple stages and its own bespoke after-party.
“From playing back-to-back nights at this place,” Dimitroff said, “you can get access to some great jam sessions, or, depending on the night, you can rent out the whole building to record an album.”
Related content Is ‘Riot Fest’ a copycat, an incubator of talent or a fringe fest?
The band will be adding their own signature sound to some already-obvious boundaries by releasing an EP in November. A full record, they have promised, will arrive in two years.
Dimitroff said they are keeping a long-term goal of playing shows all over the world, but in the meantime Geese can be found “gathering our strength at home, where our family and friends are already ready to greet us.”
Here’s an invitation — they’re preparing for a world tour to follow the tour.
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New York Has a New Band of Buzzy Post-Punk Teens: Geese performs “Our Bodies are More Satisfying Than Yours” at Riot Fest
