Last year, LA based band 100gecs released their first full project. The duo, composed of Laura Les and Dylan Brady, make some rather interesting music, equally inspired by “Skrillex and Playboi Carti”. The album, 1000gecs, is a whirlwind of bright and peppy noise that refuses to let up throughout its (all too short) 23 minutes. Genres are not just combined, but rather bastardized in both a ridiculous and intriguing manner. Electronic, Pop, Dance, Rap, Rock, Ska, Metal, Noise—all worm their way in at some point. It is bizarre, enigmatic, and way too much fun.
When I went to a Brockhampton show in November of last year, I had never heard of the opener–100gecs. Funnily enough, I was too late to see the band play, but I remember seeing their record on sale. The cover art– a picture of the two artists standing, backs to the camera, against a tree– fascinated me. It was weird and eye-catching. “What kind of music could they make?” I thought naively. I made a mental note to check the band out at some point, and enjoyed the rest of the concert.
The next day, I put the album on and gave it my full attention. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. 1000gecs almost plays like parody, bouncing from style to style but always presenting a clear vision. However funny I found it, I was nevertheless mesmerized by its commitment to the chaotic, the disordered, and the extreme. It is quite a bit abrasive (parts of the community refer to 100gecs as “Charli XCX on Adderall” or “Death Grips for weaboos”) but it stays fairly grounded in modern musical norms. That’s what makes 1000gecs so entertaining. While most subversive artist try to defy cliché by outright rejecting it, Laura Les and Dylan Brady take many modern trends and push them to the extreme.
Throughout 1000gecs, there is heavy use of auto tune and pitch control—so much that the voices of Laura and Dylan are almost drowned out in the wash of sugary noise. Distorted 808s pound and lo-fi trap drums tap their way through the under-mixed songs. On occasion, samples ring out alone, like on the fever trip “I Need Help Immediately” which sounds as if a cat walked on a soundboard and accidently uploaded it to the album. Many songs begin in one style and steeply change into something else, like the single “Money Machine”. Beginning as a banging trap rap cut, it breaks down into a droning noise with overpowering bass booming. Another, “800db Cloud” is a sweet love song that ends with metal screaming.
Dylan and Laura’s humor and wit is present undeniable in their work. Songs like “Stupid Horse” and “xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx” demonstrate this well (as does their bio section on Spotify). But 1000gecs isn’t just a good joke. It is a well-crafted and extremely enjoyable meditation on the chaos of modern day. It probably will come as no big surprise that the entirety of the album was recorded separately. Dylan and Laura would send each other bits over time until they had a full song, much like The Postal Service did in the 2000’s. The internet played a major role not only in the spreading of the album, but also in the incubation of it. The drastic and eclectic nature of the internet molded the sound of the record continually. Its chaos is not a defect, but rather a reflection of an ever changing world were styles and trends boom and bust.
“Here today, gone tomorrow” has become the mantra of an-increasingly impatient society. Ideas become tropes, which become clichés, and, after oversaturation, disappear. 100gecs is a true product of that artistic lifespan. Its genre hopping mish-mash can sound haphazard, but it really is meticulously crafted. I have found a lot of entertainment in its thought provoking, bizarre hyperactivity, and perhaps you may as well.
I’d rate this album 9gecs out of 10. Thanks for reading.
art for cheap 