Baby - Justin Bieber as covered by Geese
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Refreshingly dynamic and flat out brilliant
Brooklyn's own GEESE have released a new single that falls somewhere between that of a sultry cabaret show and apex musicality | Before you brush this one off,
forget everything you know about pop icon Justin Bieber, put your headphones on and do just one thing- listen. Scroll below for the YouTube link..
"In an era of obscene AI covers taking over the internet, Geese create something that makes so little sense and yet so f*cking good that no robot could ever replicate it. @peteish.mp4914
I had no idea what I was in for at first listen. I drew all my conclusions before I even heard a single note which, in general, amounted to this track being egregious, for shock value only and - at best - satirical in value.
In 2010, I thought I had the world figured out; that good music had all but shriveled up into 'Top Album' lists and thereby existing futilely. Kesha span in heavy rotation across nearly every broadcast radio format - you couldn't' escape TikTok (the song bro), Twilight came out & Facebook dealt it's death blow to MySpace when it cleared it's 500-millionth user. The only redeeming thing I recall from this (not so) epic year would be the oh so epic Scott Pilgrim. We salute you, Scott.
Then one day, I came home from (skipping) school to find my little sister's room has been painted purple. The shade of purple that perfectly matched the zipper hoodie Justin was wearing in all of the posters she had newly put up. Bieber Fever was in full force - and there was no stopping it.
Our local bowling alley would put on black light bowling once a week and eventually brought in a live DJ. I wore my usual Pink Floyd sweatshirt and hemp necklace as I requested the new Bieber hit 'Baby' as a joke. The DJ actually refused to play it. So, I pulled out my Pink Floyd wallet and paid him $20 which led to him agreeing to to play HALF of the song.
I was 14 or 15 and thought I was hilarious - now I realize I was just an idiot & was fully scammed.
unironically some of the most fire sh*t i’ve heard in a while - @theoruehsen4900
Fast forward to 2024 and in my 30th year of life, I've found apprecation in so many of the things teenage me would have immediately written off without a second thought. I've been an on-air presenter on a commercial radio station for just over ten years now and most recently, have been spinning tracks from Geese's 3D Country. My program director added 'Cowboy Nudes' to regular rotation. I've been digging this band since and am proud to support them on the commercial FM dial.
I stumbled across this chatter online about a new track from Geese and I thought to myself, "cool, better check my email and add air it on my next show." But, suprisingly, my music submission folder was devoid of anything new from Geese. Nothing from the label nor any promoters. Surely I can't be THIS early on a new release?
After a little dive, I find a YouTube slideshow of AI generated photos of Justin Bieber doing various everything things like holding a kowala bear and winning the Stanely Cup set to music that actually left me transfixed.
Holy sh*t, this had no right being this good - Toadhead
The track starts off slower than you may expect but it's tight and the tone is phat.
Cameron's vocals are worthy of being added to the Berklee College of Music curriculum he nearly studied himself; His performance is dynamic, emotive and stylistically distinctive. Geese display use of a musical color palette that no other band has reached for - and with it, they've painted a marvel.
The vocal runs are just different enough than Justin's pop version that you don't necessarily know what's coming next. The melodic guitar work in this is just simply wonderful - with some sliding riffs and careful chucking seem to sparkle over a bass line that harkens back to Macca's style, driving the band's direction with succinct octave-wide licks and fills.
Overall the sound/atmosphere of this song falls somewhere between a speakeasy stage show, 1950's rock n' roll and swinging, drunken Cabaret shows where an epic fight breaks out over cigarette smoke and dirty martinis. All the while, the burlesque dancers continue dancing in their flashy in full sequin stage costumes with flamboyant gaudy feathers and lace. Ah, I can see (and smell) it all now.
"What a world. I didn't think I could love Geese any more but damn, phenomenal. I love that this exists and I'm alive to hear it with my ears". - @jessecooper5900
As the grunge and magic of the first chorus faded out, I expected the chorus to explode, and it did but not the way I had expected. Falsetto runs fill the space as those iconic lyrics, "Baby, baby, baby, oh!" are catapulted into the high heavens like an epic trampoline spike by the NASTY groove the drummer and bass player lock in on. Damn, fellas.
Perhaps the -riskiest- move was doing on a spoken-word take on Ludacris's rapping bridge section and my holy guacamole, my guy - it slaps. Big risk, big reward.
There's something almost transformative about it. And while the music lends to be the soundtrack of a skanky bar fight at a burlesque show, I found myself reflecting on all the years I spent as an angsty teen baselessly dismissing Bieber.
I had it all wrong.
The way Geese delivers, in spoken word, Ludacris's lines about wanting to be with his girlfriend on the playground and see her on the weekends, emboldened by reverb and gentle rimshots is Scorsese-esque.
In closing, hearing this song so skillfully adapted by Geese, one of the top 'bands to watch', gave me a chance to really give a nod to how well written Baby is. Having just graduated high school in 2020, maybe Cameron Winter (vocalist, Geese) finally found a way to vent out some bottled away hurt from his youth, and that's why his performance is so completely epic and stellar? Or, who knows, maybe he's just a damn good singer and Geese is just a damn good band.
Follow Geese --> @geesebandnyc
Buy the track --> Geese's BandCamp
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