1000 gecs

Album review

1000 Gecs, the 2019 debut from hyperpop duo 100 gecs, is 23 unrelenting minutes of boundless, energetic chaos. Gecs masterminds Dylan Brady and Laura Les mash together conflicting genres, grating samples, autotuned vocals, and multi-color distortion into an overwhelming frenzy that shouldn't result in catchy pop but somehow does. First-time listeners might be bowled over by the anxiety-fueled tempos and abrasive synth tones of tracks like "745 sticky" and "money machine," but Les and Brady build undeniable hooks into their speedy, scattershot tracks. Songs like "gec 2 Ü" move from one idea to the next so quickly that it's hard to process in real time. But the song's leaps from drum-n-bass rhythmic blasts to wobbly synth bass to vaporous, emo-tinged vocal harmonies barely register as individual moments, instead bleeding into an enjoyable, if panic-inducing, greater whole. The comparatively spare "Ringtone" feels uncrowded and direct, but its singsong verses and digital strings are still so futuristic that the song doesn't quite qualify as straightforward. 1000 Gecs is full of sometimes absurd, sometimes self-aware humor, both in its moments of over-the-top lyrical combativeness and instrumental non sequiturs. Several vocal-free interludes are made up of canned sound effects and malfunctioning MIDI files spewing out computer voices and slap bass. The album is jittery, ridiculous, and perpetually short-circuiting but is also paradoxically a fine-tuned and controlled pop product. It's the sound of frayed nerves in the Internet age but also the sound of letting go completely, cackling gleefully at the idea of throwing every sound, concept, and feeling into the same barrel and then promptly rolling that barrel over the side of a cliff.

© Fred Thomas /TiVo