Track By Track: Thee Golden Geese's Debut Album 'Bird Of The Year 2023'

Tamaki Makaurau's Thee Golden Geese have finally laid the golden egg, unleashing today their debut album Bird of the Year 2023 via 1:12 Records. Causing a commotion with last week's insta-hit '95bFM Top 10' (get in your votes HERE) plus tragicomic sonic memoirs 'Georgie Pie' and 'Spend All My Money On Crap', Thee Golden Geese stick the landing with eight new energising anthems for the ages, including 'Goose Party', 'Punk Nuns', 'Customised Mousepad', and 'Can't Stop Us Rockin' Forever'.

You can't make something this fun without some serious rock 'n' roll know-how under the hood, the band are comprised of true local legends Gareth Shute (bass), James Dansey (drums, "also he produced the whole album"), Dave Taylor (guitar) and frontman Matthew Crawley. The feathery foursome squeezed in some time during this hectic week to share their own words on every song on their history making debut. Head along to their launch party this Saturday (each attendee gets a free Thee Golden Geese guitar pick), order the record on vinyl LP HERE, and read on for the full scoop...

Thee Golden Geese Album Release Party
with Cootie Cuties and a very special guest
Saturday 28th October - Whammy Bar, Auckland
Tickets available HERE via UTR

1. ‘Goose Party’

I know, I know, a song that sounds like ‘Michael and the Slipper Tree,’ but featuring too many geese coming round for dinner is a rock trope as old as the hills, but we thought, well, if it ain’t broke! Think of it as our version of The Hobbit’s “An Unexpected Party”... And the rest is history!

2. ‘Georgie Pie’

Matthew dropped out of school to work at Georgie Pie. True story! And the rest is history!

3. ‘Solve A Murder’

Matthew and his girlfriend Rebecca were deeply ensconced in The Midsomer Murders for a while there. An episode before sleepytime. They had a cute little song about solving a murder together, and we stole it and ruined it. And the rest is history!

4. ‘Backfoot’

When we first formed Thee Golden Geese, the idea was to make some garage-soul music. Gary Goose wrote this song in that mould, though as the band became more garage and less soulful, it became harder to fit this one in the set. But now when you listen to it, you might think — “Wait a minute? Is this the Dirtbombs?” No! It just sounds like the Dirtbombs, because we ripped them off! And the rest is history!

5. ‘Punk Nuns’

Punks and nuns. Nuns and punks. Two peas in a pod ammiright? We crafted a song that explores how easy and natural it is for punks to become nuns, whilst acknowledging that once they’ve married Christ or whatever it is they do, they often drift back to being punks again. Punk never dies, hence punk nuns. And the rest is history!

6. ‘Amazing James’

This was one of many songs we made up at a practice very quickly. The two ideas behind it were — “let’s write about our drummer James and how amazing he is” and also “let’s do something that sounds like The Who.” James *claims* to be a terrible drummer, however, he can put three sticks in each hand and pretend to be wolverine playing the drums, and while anyone could do this, they don’t. Thus, in his own way, James is amazing. Plus the solo was way way longer originally, but can you believe these were the good bits? Jesus. There were a lot more gasping and exclamations from Matt, but I guess we’ll save that unused material for the 12” remix. And the rest is history!

7. ‘95bFM Top 10’

Do you like ‘My Sharona’ but hate the icky lyrics? Well, this song is for you, because it starts exactly the same! Then it does some other stuff. A lot of Auckland musicians get their start on the ol’ bFM Top 10 so we did a song about it. Everyone should definitely go to their fundraising event in December! And please vote for us, because as the song says, we will never ever try again if we don’t get to the top of the 95bFM Top 10, or something like that, I don’t really listen to the lyrics — and neither should you! Just buy our album! And the rest is history!

8. ‘Spend All My Money On Crap’

James once suggested that we sounded best when we played in the power pop style of the early '80s, so Gary Goose went home and listened to lots of tracks from that era and returned with this song. Matt then poured his own incredible life experience into the verse lyrics… and the rest is history!

9. ‘Customised Mousepad’

Everyone kept on coming up to us saying, "I was trying to send you guys an email to tell you how much I loved your music, but my mouse kept sticking to the desk and I couldn’t get it to go to the send button" so we thought, hang on a sec, there’s something in this. So we gave away some customised mousepads at a show, and proceeded to be absolutely inundated with emails! Who’d have thunk it? So we had to stop giving them out, and since then we’ve been able to get back to our lives. And the rest is history!

10. ‘Stick It To The Man’

Dave Goose brought us this number as a way to prove that we are hardcore rebels and can play like The Ramones if we want to. Dave sure can strum fast with his right hand, it’s hard to keep up. And the rest is history!

11. ‘Can’t Stop Us Rockin’ Forever’

This is by far the longest song, and while you may be mistaken for thinking it is exactly the same as Amazing James, you would be wrong, because one of the chords is actually played a little later. Eddie Castelow (Dictaphone Blues) ripped a super sick solo on this, but recorded it far too well and it stood out in the mix like a sore rock thumb making us look bad, so we buried it under more appropriate solos like one on Gary’s trombone. And the rest, as they say, is history!

'Bird of the Year 2023' is out today digitally and on vinyl LP via 1:12 Records.