Bam's Music Reviews: 1000 Gecs (100 gecs, 2019)
I'm Bam. I like possums, I like music! Let's get into it~
...gecgecgec- Oh, sorry about that. Yeah, uh, I really like this album. Having enjoyed my fair share of speedcore and gabber from multitude of albums, I've gotten used to listening to more... noisier types of electronic music, and 1000 Gecs has this in strives. The album is filled to the brim with blaring bass hits and heavily autotuned vocals that are, admittedly, occasionally quite tinnitus-inducing. To a regular person who doesn't listen to that much stuff, I highly recommend listening at a lower level than you might usually listen to music, particularly if you're listening through earpods.
If you're a true pissbaby, on the other hand, you want to crank that volume slider as far as it can go, because this album is absolutely packed with fast-paced and energy-filled tracks that'll rock you down to the core. With a very tight runtime of barely over 23 minutes long, the album is a brisk listening experience compared to some of the monstrous albums I've looked into on this blog before. It was rather refreshing listening to the album and finishing it one and a half times on my daily commute to school. It also makes for an album that's easy for making a review for - everything ends so quickly that there's not that much to say, after all!
...Or so you would think. The music of 100 Gecs is deceivingly complex and intelligently put together, even if a lot of it might sound like the workings of a 12-year-old getting access to FL Studio for the first time in their life. This feeling is on full display on songs like "I Need Help Immediately" and "gecgecgec", the former one in particular reminding me of some of those cold nights when I was younger and bored, messing around with a DAW and slapping random noises onto the timeline. I think it's exactly this feeling that makes me feel endearment to these tracks, on top of the obvious humor factor of the obnoxious "BA-BACK ONCE AGAIN" samples or a loud stock ovation in the middle of "I Need Help Immediately".
The whole album jumps around in styles and even genres on a near song-by-song basis. Tracks like "ringtone" feature bubbly indie-pop sounds in its verses, while "xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx" has the feeling of a nightcore track you might find searching for an obscure Eurodance track on YouTube - only to be smacked in the face several times by ridiculously loud dubstep wubs that knock weaker individuals into next week. Then there's the crazier switches, like "stupid horse" being a ridiculous ska punk song, and "800db cloud" turning from an EDM track into hilariously out-of-place death metal growling. Usually I would detract some points for such sudden shifts in tone and genre, but considering the insanity of the entire album and the thing being so short, I'm more than willing to take refuge in the madness for just a little bit.
A special mention goes to the lyrics on many of the tracks also helping with the insanity of the album. The golden example of this is "Money Machine", which features possibly one of the greatest intros a song has had in decades, one which has to be read to be believed: "Hey you lil' piss baby, you think you're so fucking cool, huh? You think you're so fucking tough? You talk a lotta BIG GAME FOR SOMEONE WITH SUCH A SMALL TRUCK!", followed by the lead singer absolutely spitting as they roast someone for their tiny arms resembling cigarettes before exploding into one of, if not the, best song on the entire album. You honestly cannot make this shit up even if you tried.
Unfortunately, the album is not without its flaws as well. Although I joked about the loudness of the album, it can sometimes get legitimately grating at times. That mention about lowering your volume wasn't purely a gag, the album can actually give you a headache if you listen to it too loudly, especially if you're more sensitive to loud noises. Additionally, despite me praising the album for being short... man, I can't help but to ask for more! I'm not personally the type to listen to really short works most of the time, and the whole thing being done in under half an hour leads me craving for more. There is a remix album filled with takes by other big-time acts like Kero Kero Bonito, Charli XCX and Fall Out Boy, but a remix album can only get so much extra mileage compared to more original material. Hopefully the album 100 gecs is releasing soon, 10000 Gecs, will have the similar energy to this delectable mess.
1000 Gecs is absolutely not for everyone. It's loud, bombastic and makes the listener think they have ADHD. But at the same time, it's also an incredibly composed and hilariously written piece of modern culture that takes inspiration from a multitude of sources, ranging from the past, present, and possibly even the future! For a debut album, 100 gecs really knocked this particular corner of music out of the park, and I really hope the duo has a long and successful career in this ever-changing landscape. I mean, you gotta pay those trucks off somehow, and betting on horses isn't exactly gonna cut it~
Comments
Post a Comment