March 17, 2023
Atlantic
1xLP (Black and Indie Exclusive White Vinyl)
When hyperpop duo 100 gecs burst onto the scene with their first EP, 100 gecs (2016), shortly followed by their debut album 1000 gecs, no one seemed to know quite what hit them, or how to make sense of it all. Attempts to define their sound have floundered, the best attempts at labeling them being: hyperpop, experimental pop, post-dubstep, chiptune, or bubblegum bass. In other words, they have evaded categorization, adopting a radically iconoclastic sensibility and borrowing and mashing from wherever their short attention span may be focused at the minute. Their new album, 10,000 gecs, ostensibly ten times more powerful than their first, is as shocking, confusing and eccentric as anything they’ve done, approaching what this listener might call the Suburban Sublime. Less focused on the autotuned hyperpop sound that made them famous, 10,000 feels more informed by mid 2000s emo and pop-punk genres, albeit dipped in battery acid and dried on the pavement of a scorching parking lot. What do they sing about? One might ask; and find out that their content is as audacious as their form, at once goofy and shocking. Doritos and Fritos, an anthem against millennial boredom and nihilism; I Got My Tooth Removed, a ska inspired accounting of youthful angst; Billy Knows Jamie, a violent revenge fantasy; Frog On The Floor, they saw a frog on the floor; all supplemented by intermittent blasts of the THX home theater noise. Vinyl is fun, but this one feels made to be listened to on the Youtube mobile app, whilst enjoying a six-pack of Monster Energy Drink.