Geologist is the nom-de-théâtre of Brian Weitz, whose pursuits have been an active part of the music underground since he was 15, playing and working in alignment with an organic ensemble of friends that would one day choose to call what they were doing Animal Collective. Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?, the first-ever proper Geologist solo album — due out January 30 — is Brian’s pursuit of a musical answer to the not-oft-enuf-ast question: what if, back in the 80s, Ethan James had made a hurdy gurdy album for SST?

The lead single, “Tonic”, owes its namesake to a transformational show Brian witnessed at the legendary NYC club — a howling hurdy gurdy set from Keiji Haino. The instrument’s expansive space led him by-and-by to this sound: overdriven hurdy gurdy leads snaking over throbbing analog synths, Dave Portner's thumping bass line, and Alianna Kalaba's steady beat. An undeniable hybrid of post-post-punk energies! As Brian describes it:
 

"Most of the formative music in my teens was guitar based, and at that age, you try to play like your favorites. But I was never very good at guitar myself. A couple years ago when trying to come up with a solo hurdy gurdy drone set to take out on tour, I heard a story about Greg Ginn playing guitar solos over a drum machine. I was coming to accept that whatever drone I could make on the hurdy gurdy would never live up to when I first heard Keiji Haino play one at Tonic in 1998. So I went the Ginn route instead and wrote this record. I still can’t play or write like my favorites, but the hurdy gurdy got me closer than guitar ever did."

Geologist’s first true solo record is an inspired ride through avant, prog-jazz, kraut, post-punk and minimalist vibes merging in electronic infinity. An epic electro-acoustic textile of many colors cut from the life and times of Brian Weitz, he threads impulses and happenings across space on each track, cherry picking from his psychic archive: be it the vibe of an energizing repeat drive from Tucson into the desert, the unending thrill of the mind-meld in eternal recurrence, or an incendiary live witness one night in in 1998. Geologist uses the drone and chanter strings of the hurdy gurdy to highlight these moments in the kaleidoscopic flow of memory.

Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights? was recorded and mixed by Adam McDaniel at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, NC. It features the drumming of Emma Garau, Alianna Kalaba (FACS, Cat Power) and Ryan Oslance (The Dead Tongues, Indigo De Souza), as well as Sham’s Shane McCord on clarinets, Mikey Powers on cello, Dave “Avey Tare” Portner on bass, and Adam Lion on vibraphone. Additionally, Brian's son, Merrick Weitz, contributed acoustic guitar on the track "Government Job." Ask your nearest record store, “Can I get Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?” starting January 30, 2026! And, watch the "Tonic" music video today, directed by Molten Synapse.

Geologist 2025 Performances

11/20 Washington, DC @ Rhizome (w/ The Caribbean)
11/22 Baltimore, MD @ The Red Room (w/ Mike Alfieri, Obi Feldi, Iron Joy)
12/11 Washington, DC @ Songbyrd (w/ Ducks LTD, Phoebe Rings)
12/12 New York, NY @ Giorno Poetry Systems (w/ Eric Copeland)
12/13 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery (w/ Bitchin Bajas)