100 gecs – “10,000 gecs” review

This is the sophomore effort & major label debut from St. Louis, Missouri hyperpop duo 100 gecs. Consisting of singer/songwriters & producers Dylan Brady & Laura Les, they got together in 2015 after meeting at a high school rodeo & dropped an eponymous extended play the following year to moderate reception. Their debut 1,000 gecs polarized the musical spectrum with some calling it unlistenable & others like me who appreciate it for playfully demonstrating their creativity. Dog Show Records has since signed a new distribution deal with Atlantic Records & are turning it up from 1,000 & to 10,000 gecs.

“Dumbest Girl Alive” gets things going fusing hyperpop, alternative rock, digicore, nu metal, industrial hip hop & trap talking about Laura’s experiences of transitioning whereas “757” comes through with a decent cover of “1.7” by Quentin Lovejoy. The final single “Hollywood Baby” blends alternative rock, power pop, hyperpop & pop punk singing about them going insane due to most of the LP being written during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic leading into “Frog on the Floor” averagely covering Isaa Corva & 16inMono’s track of the same name.

Dance-punk, dance-punk revival, zolo, ska punk, new wave, geek rock & comedy rock all collide for “Doritos & Fritos” singing about eating burritos with Danny DeVito while “Billy Knows Jamie” covers “Alex Knows Stevie” by Quintin Lovejoy & puts a nu metal spin on it. “The Most Wanted Person in the United States” after the “$1M” interlude samples “Insane in the Brain” by Cypress Hill talking about being killers while “I Got a My Tooth Removed” pokes fun at the dental work Laura needed a year earlier. “mememe” ends with a fusion of hyperpop, power pop, ska punk, bitpop, pop punk, geek rock, alternative rock, new tone & neon pop punk singing about people not knowing shit regarding them.

Atlantic has a long history of doing their artists dirty from Apathy to Lupe Fiasco & more recently Lil Uzi Vert, but I was relieved to come away from 10,000 gecs enjoying as much as 100 gecs’ previous album. Their production’s a bit more accessible than 1000 gecs’ prominently leaning towards the alternative rock side of things although we do get hints of the hyperpop sound they popularized, ska punk, power pop, pop punk, geek rock, new tone, nu metal, bitpop, new tone, neon pop punk, dance-punk, dance-punk revival, zolo, new wave & comedy rock throughout the half hour retaining the humorous songwriting of it’s predecessor.

Score: 4/5

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100 gecs – “Snake Eyes” review

St. Louis, Missouri hyperpop duo 100 gecs signing to Atlantic Records for their 2nd EP. Consisting of singer/songwriters & producers Dylan Brady & Laura Les, they got together in 2015 after meeting at a high school rodeo & dropped an eponymous extended play the following year to moderate reception. Their debut 1,000 gecs under Dog Show Records polarized the musical spectrum with some calling it unlistenable & others like me who appreciate it for playfully demonstrating their creativity, coming back 3 & a half years later to roll Snake Eyes.

“Hey Big Man” sets it all off with a rap rock intro reminiscent of the Beastie Boys’ full-length debut Licensed to Ill where both of them are trading bars with each other for only a couple of brief verses while the only single “Torture Me” co-produced by Skrillex fuses hyperpop, digicore hybrid trap, future bass, bubblegum bass & future riddim so Laura can repeatedly talk about an psychotic ex of hers that wants to torture her. “Runaway” finishes off by combining the hyperpop sound they’ve popularized & elements of alt-rock describing each of their desires to escape their previous lives.

If Snake Eyes proves anything, it’s that the next 100 gecs album could easily be the most accessible thing they’ve ever done & that wouldn’t necessarily surprise me now they’re on a major label. That being said: Snake Eyes feels more like a prelude to 10,000 gecs than a continuation of their previous full-length. Dylan & Laura’s hyperpop production carries over the digicore elements of the gecs’ previous output, except they’re emphasizing their alternative/rap rock influences a bit & I can see that working out in the long run if they take those styles further.

Score: 3.5/5

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100 gecs – “1,000 gecs” review

100 gecs is a hyperpop duo from St. Louis, Missouri consisting of singer/songwriters & producers Dylan Brady & Laura Les. Initially meeting at a high school rodeo, they reunited in 2015 & dropped an eponymous extended play the following year to moderate reception although glimpses of their potential were shown. However, they’ve been getting a lot of attention for the singles preceding their brief full-length debut that they’ve decided to put out through Dylan’s own independent label Dog Show Records.

The remix Parker Corey of Injury Reserve did for the intro “745 Sticky” combines industrial hip hop, glitch hop, deconstructed club, trap, wonky & hybrid trap to talk about the paper whereas their breakout single “money machine” takes a more humorous approach to their songwriting with PC Music founder A.G. Cook’s remix blending bubblegum bass, deconstructed club, industrial hip hop, hyperpop, emo rap & sound collage.

“800db cloud” mixes hyperpop, industrial hip hop, industrial rock, deconstructed club, cyber metal, sludge metal & emo rap asking where the weed’s at while “xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx” after the “stupid horse” interlude interpolates “Kiss Me Through the Phone” by Soulja Boy exploring vocal trance. “ringtone” featuring Charli XCX & Rico Nasty on the remix talks about their partners calling them using different responses over a pop rap, hyperpop, electropop, bubblegum bass, emo rap & digicore instrumental just before “gecgecgec” lets Laura shine on her own for a couple minutes.

Hyperpop, EDM trap, digicore, standard trap, emo rap, hands up, nightcore, bubblegum bass, vocal trance & pop rap all collide for what could be my favorite track they’ve ever done “hand crushed by a mallet” included in WWE 2K24 describing a fight that occurred during a studio session where one of them left & the other one was upset regarding the whole thing while “gec 2 Ü” featuring Dorian Electra on the remix joins forces for a hyperpop, brostep, hands up, glitch & deconstructed club outro talking about their own relationships.

In the mist of all the polarizing reception this album’s been getting, I’d have to strongly disagree with the crowd who’s been calling 1,000 gecsunlistenable & lean more towards the other half of people who’ve been praising 100 gecs for it’s creative amalgamation of multiple genres. Dylan Brady & Laura Les’ production improved their signature hyperpop sound adding elements of deconstructed club, electropop, emo rap, trap, digicore, pop rap, bubblegum bass, industrial hip hop, glitch hop, wonky, hybrid trap, sound collage, industrial rock, cyber metal, sludge metal, electropop, EDM trap, hands up, nightcore, vocal trance, brostep, glitch & deconstructed club to popularize the electropop subgenre.

Score: 4/5