100 Gecs — 1000 gecs(May 31, 2019)♦ℜ♥ Dylan Brady a Laura Les rozbíjí konstrukty populární hudby a staví je zpět ve své vlastní pokřivené vizi. Na obálce svého debutového alba stojí 100 Gecs — Laura Les a Dylan Brady čelem k borovici, jejich hlavy se naklánějí do větví a zády k fotoaparátu. V Mapách Google je tento strom nyní kategorizován jako historický orientační bod v Des Plaines ve státě Illinois poté, co fanoušek objevil své přesné souřadnice. Existuje dokonce petice na change.org, která by udělala z tohoto stromu osmý zázrak světa, a omítnuté po celém Twitteru jsou vzpomínky a obnovy výrazného front~cover artu, přičemž někteří fanoušci fotografují se skutečným stromem, jiní si najdou svůj vlastní strom, ke kterému se postaví čelem k objektivu a jeden fanoušek dokonce vytváří své vlastní diorama ztvárnění scény. Location: Los Angeles, California Genre: Experimental pop, Post~dubstep Album release: May 31, 2019 Recorded: 2018~2019 Record Label: Dog Show Duration: 23:08 Tracks: 01. 745 sticky 2:21 02. money machine 1:55 03. 800db cloud 2:20 04. I Need Help Immediately 1:22 05. stupid horse 2:02 06. xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx 2:55 07. ringtone 2:24 08. gecgecgec 2:24 09. hand crushed by a mallet 2:07 10. gec 2 Ü 3:18 Accolades: ♦ Crack Magazine The Top 50 Albums of the Year#25 ♦ Jon Pareles for The New York Times Best Albums of 2019#10 ♦ Jon Caramanica for The New York Times Best Albums of 2019 #1 ♦ Noisey The 100 Best Albums of 2019#1 ♦ Paper Top 20 Albums of 2019#6 ♦ Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2019#42 ♦ PopMatters The 70 Best Albums of 2019#50 ♦ Rolling Stone The 50 Best Albums of 2019#19 ♦ Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2019 #27 ♦ TheNeedleDrop Top 50 Albums of 2019 #49 Review by Larry Fitzmaurice⌊ JULY 27 2019 ⌋ Score: 7.4 ♦ℜ♥ The duo’s wild~eyed genre mishmash covers chiptuned pop~punk, chintzy trance synths, and the closely mic’d intimacy of indie pop — sometimes all in the same song. ℜ♦♥ If you’re the type to take pleasure in connecting dots across the overwhelmingly scattered trends of 2010s digital music culture, then 100 gecs are right up your alley. Production and songwriting duo Dylan Brady and Laura Les — hailing from Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively — make abrasive, maximalist pop music that isn’t so much indefinable as it is endlessly identifiable, cross~sectioning myriad mainstream~leaning and definitively underground music released over the last decade. Nothing they’re doing is new, per se, but the way in which they do it feels fresh and appealingly unique. ♦ℜ♥ PC Music’s arch, conceptualist cyber~pop is an easy reference point, as are the crunchy, compressed headbangers that Sleigh Bells pumped out in their prime; at times, 100 gecs sound like Visible Cloaks producing for Charli XCX (fittingly, Brady’s already turned in an official remix for the latter’s Lizzo~assisted single “Blame It on Your Love”). The duo’s most defiantly ear~bleeding moments recall the bass~shaking abrasions of XXXTentacion’s “Look at Me!” — but they also bring a sense of cocked~eyebrow playfulness shared with storied Swedish indie label Sincerely Yours, especially the dearly missed Situationist pop act the Tough Alliance. If that sounds like a lot, wait until you get a load of 1000 gecs, one of the year's most fascinating, exhilarating experimental pop albums. ℜ♦♥ There’s no better title for this thing than 1000 gecs, which references both the group’s charming self~titled 2017 debut and their sheer multiple~atop~multiple audaciousness. The album’s singles to date — the pulsing, cavity~inducing “Money Machine” and “800db Cloud”’s drop~dotted miserabilia — both conclude in washes of coruscating noise and death~metal thrashing; “I Need Help Immediately” is a sounds~of~the~studio collage in which the most recognizable melodic line sounds like an inverted McDonald’s jingle. The style and attitude of hip~hop is pervasive, but that barely encapsulates 100 gecs’ wild~eyed genre mishmash, which covers chiptuned pop~punk, chintzy trance synths, and the closely mic’d intimacy of indie pop — sometimes all in the same song. ℜ♦♥ Brady and Les are musical fabulists, but 1000 gecs surprisingly rewards close listening when it comes to lyrical content, too. Though the opening line of “Money Machine” — “Hey, you lil’ piss baby” — scans as pure chest~puffing braggadocio, it also contains one of the most appealingly strange taunts in recent memory: “You talk a lotta big game/For someone with such a small truck.” “Stupid Horse” is the catchiest song about the dangers of racetrack betting since the Hold Steady’s “Chips Ahoy!,” doubling as a hilarious evocation of financial hedonism and a touching tale of animal liberation. “Ringtone,” 1000 gecs’ clearest~eyed selection, details intimacy in the age of group chats before its sweet sentiment curdles like milk left out on the counter: “Used to love that ringtone when you called me/Now it makes me sick.” ℜ♦♥ 1000 gecs saw release in May on Brady’s Dog Show label, and the duo is currently affiliated with Diplo’s always~trending Mad Decent imprint as well. But they’re not for everyone, and that might be an understatement. Brady and Les’ ability to turn on various sonic and thematic dimes — to describe a loving exchange between two long~distance paramours one minute and brag about being addicted to Monster energy drinks the next — can be disorienting. Even at their most accessible, 100 gecs sound like a bunch of fireworks stuffed into a fax machine, or human beings singing in the key of dial~up. They traffic in pure and uncut absurdity, but even their most outrageous moments radiate a strange sincerity — the kind that could only come from two denizens of a perpetually logged~on generation. ♦ℜ♥ https://pitchfork.com/ Bandcamp: https://100gecs.bandcamp.com/album/1000-gecs Label: https://dogshowrecords.com/ Interview: https://www.thefader.com/2019/09/04/100-gecs-1000-gecs-interview
Genre: Experimental pop, Post~dubstep
Album release: May 31, 2019
Recorded: 2018~2019
Record Label: Dog Show
Duration: 23:08
Tracks:
01. 745 sticky 2:21
02. money machine 1:55
03. 800db cloud 2:20
04. I Need Help Immediately 1:22
05. stupid horse 2:02
06. xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx 2:55
07. ringtone 2:24
08. gecgecgec 2:24
09. hand crushed by a mallet 2:07
10. gec 2 Ü 3:18
Accolades:
♦ Crack Magazine The Top 50 Albums of the Year #25
♦ Jon Pareles for The New York Times Best Albums of 2019 #10
♦ Jon Caramanica for The New York Times Best Albums of 2019 #1
♦ Noisey The 100 Best Albums of 2019 #1
♦ Paper Top 20 Albums of 2019 #6
♦ Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2019 #42
♦ PopMatters The 70 Best Albums of 2019 #50
♦ Rolling Stone The 50 Best Albums of 2019 #19
♦ Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2019 #27
♦ TheNeedleDrop Top 50 Albums of 2019 #49 Review
by Larry Fitzmaurice ⌊ JULY 27 2019 ⌋ Score: 7.4
♦ℜ♥ The duo’s wild~eyed genre mishmash covers chiptuned pop~punk, chintzy trance synths, and the closely mic’d intimacy of indie pop — sometimes all in the same song.
ℜ♦♥ If you’re the type to take pleasure in connecting dots across the overwhelmingly scattered trends of 2010s digital music culture, then 100 gecs are right up your alley. Production and songwriting duo Dylan Brady and Laura Les — hailing from Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively — make abrasive, maximalist pop music that isn’t so much indefinable as it is endlessly identifiable, cross~sectioning myriad mainstream~leaning and definitively underground music released over the last decade. Nothing they’re doing is new, per se, but the way in which they do it feels fresh and appealingly unique.
♦ℜ♥ PC Music’s arch, conceptualist cyber~pop is an easy reference point, as are the crunchy, compressed headbangers that Sleigh Bells pumped out in their prime; at times, 100 gecs sound like Visible Cloaks producing for Charli XCX (fittingly, Brady’s already turned in an official remix for the latter’s Lizzo~assisted single “Blame It on Your Love”). The duo’s most defiantly ear~bleeding moments recall the bass~shaking abrasions of XXXTentacion’s “Look at Me!” — but they also bring a sense of cocked~eyebrow playfulness shared with storied Swedish indie label Sincerely Yours, especially the dearly missed Situationist pop act the Tough Alliance. If that sounds like a lot, wait until you get a load of 1000 gecs, one of the year's most fascinating, exhilarating experimental pop albums.
ℜ♦♥ There’s no better title for this thing than 1000 gecs, which references both the group’s charming self~titled 2017 debut and their sheer multiple~atop~multiple audaciousness. The album’s singles to date — the pulsing, cavity~inducing “Money Machine” and “800db Cloud”’s drop~dotted miserabilia — both conclude in washes of coruscating noise and death~metal thrashing; “I Need Help Immediately” is a sounds~of~the~studio collage in which the most recognizable melodic line sounds like an inverted McDonald’s jingle. The style and attitude of hip~hop is pervasive, but that barely encapsulates 100 gecs’ wild~eyed genre mishmash, which covers chiptuned pop~punk, chintzy trance synths, and the closely mic’d intimacy of indie pop — sometimes all in the same song.
ℜ♦♥ Brady and Les are musical fabulists, but 1000 gecs surprisingly rewards close listening when it comes to lyrical content, too. Though the opening line of “Money Machine” — “Hey, you lil’ piss baby” — scans as pure chest~puffing braggadocio, it also contains one of the most appealingly strange taunts in recent memory: “You talk a lotta big game/For someone with such a small truck.” “Stupid Horse” is the catchiest song about the dangers of racetrack betting since the Hold Steady’s “Chips Ahoy!,” doubling as a hilarious evocation of financial hedonism and a touching tale of animal liberation. “Ringtone,” 1000 gecs’ clearest~eyed selection, details intimacy in the age of group chats before its sweet sentiment curdles like milk left out on the counter: “Used to love that ringtone when you called me/Now it makes me sick.”
ℜ♦♥ 1000 gecs saw release in May on Brady’s Dog Show label, and the duo is currently affiliated with Diplo’s always~trending Mad Decent imprint as well. But they’re not for everyone, and that might be an understatement. Brady and Les’ ability to turn on various sonic and thematic dimes — to describe a loving exchange between two long~distance paramours one minute and brag about being addicted to Monster energy drinks the next — can be disorienting. Even at their most accessible, 100 gecs sound like a bunch of fireworks stuffed into a fax machine, or human beings singing in the key of dial~up. They traffic in pure and uncut absurdity, but even their most outrageous moments radiate a strange sincerity — the kind that could only come from two denizens of a perpetually logged~on generation.
♦ℜ♥ https://pitchfork.com/
Bandcamp: https://100gecs.bandcamp.com/album/1000-gecs
Label: https://dogshowrecords.com/
Interview: https://www.thefader.com/2019/09/04/100-gecs-1000-gecs-interview