10,000 gecs

The gecification of rock music will be studied in history books for years to come. But really, when you think about it, how many gecs is too many gecs? 1,000 gecs was a lot of gecs, and now there are 10,000 gecs? 100 gecs themself definitely saw the fact that there were too many gecs. You look at the current hyper-pop scene and see the two artists who are perhaps the genre’s most iconic pioneers deserting it; Charli’s most recent saw her joining the mob of artists flocking to the ‘80s throwback sound that has become been flooding the mainstream market and now gecs venture into a more rock-leaning direction. Why is this? Well, it’s as simple as them being cutting-edge artists who get bored if they continue making one sound for too long. Though the influence gecs have had on the hyper-pop genre cannot be understated. As hyper-pop continues to burgeon and flourish into popularity, sonically, the genre stagnates. Nearly every new hyper-pop artist feels like a clone of Laura Les and Dylan Brady (or any of their 2017-2019 innovative hyper-pop peers). Recent hyper-pop releases from up-and-comers have lacked the mix of catchiness, (at times) trashiness, and undeniably blissful sugariness that was prospering in the genre only a few years back, instead feeling more head-ache inducing and mundane than ecstasy-supplying and interesting.

Am I saying the genre’s dead? Not at all, I feel a genre’s whose appeal is rooted in brevity is still only getting started as TikTok continues to be the leading force of media entertainment, giving people their brief 15 seconds of dopamine and growing hyper-pop’s cult following even further, but the days of hyper-pop trailblazing is gone. Maybe it’s just me getting sick of the formula, though I can’t say I have gotten a high level of enjoyment from a hyper-pop album since maybe 2020.

So, needless to say, it’s a pretty good time for 100 gecs to switch things up.

10,000 gecs only has 2 real hyper-pop songs on it; 757 and the closer/lead single, mememe. The rest of the album is an exercise of throwing in everything but the kitchen sink and stinking the landing, for the most part. It’s a blunt and brief helping of any and all sounds 100 gecs want to explore; alternative rock, power pop, pop punk, ska punk, dance-punk, nu-metal, turntablism, even fucking hip-hop on The Most Wanted Person In The United States. Despite these sonic modulations, the essentials that make 100 gecs perhaps the most mesmerizing and polarizing collective in the current music landscape remain intact. Post-ironic lyrics that still conjure up surrealist imagery which blurs the lines between humor and reality, instrumentals that have been bit-crushed and distorted beyond all sensible comprehension, short yet sweet songs that go through enough phases to keep their ADHD diagnosed, caffeine-addicted fans engaged throughout (I am ADHD diagnosed, caffeine-addicted fans), and an outlandish amount of autotune that makes you doubt if 100 gecs even think they’re actually making good music. It’s yet another record filled with anthems for a generation of Internet addicts who will meme their way through future wars and laugh at seemingly meaningless inside jokes that are encased in thousands of layers of irony as the world collapses in front of them, chugging on a can of Monster Energy.

Any doubts of 100 gecs abandoning that overwhelming sense of irony that tinged their music is dispelled upon clicking play on the first song. Opening with the epic, gargantuan sound of the THX Intro before soon descending into thunderous nu-metal riffs, The Dumbest Girl Alive is pretty much the musical embodiment of forgetting to take your meds. Veering between boisterous and disorderly riffs which sound akin to Deftones playing out of a blown-out speaker, 808s that sound ripped straight out of Sicko Mode by Travis Scott, and melodic, calming pre-choruses that lulls you into a false sense of safety before unleashing the assault on your ears that is the song’s main riffs. It continues the tried and true formula of 100 gecs exaggerating 2000s/2010s pop trends to the most extreme of levels and doing it with genuinity buried deep behind too many layers of satirization to count.

757 harkens back to the intoxicatingly sugary nature of the material permeating their prior material. The listener is bombarded with more lyrics that are endearing in their nonsensical nature as Dylan Brady fires out one line after another in rapid succession. The bouncy electronics, which serve as the basis for yet another abrasive number brought to life via explosive distortion, seep through a wall of artificially tuned singing that sounds like Laura Les and Dylan Brady are cosplaying the robots that inhabit the Internet itself. Fusing a wide variety of sounds with the laurels that made 100 gecs so fascinating in the first place is what 10,000 gecs continues to do.

Frog On The Floor sounds like a children’s nursery rhyme put through so many levels of irony its impossible to tell if the song’s a joke or not, and 100 gecs channels their inner Sum 41 for the soaring and anthemic Hollywood Baby- a power pop rager about the difficulties of maintaining a career in the music industry- of which’s euphoric hook may be the most ear-grabbing moment on this album, only second the off-kilter, technicolor fusillade of stuttering guitars backing Doritos & Fritos; and don’t even get me started on Billy Knows Jamie, a nu-metal track that climaxes in an explosion so deafeningly loud that it actually clips through the listener's speakers.

Notwithstanding a somewhat lopsided final stretch of tracks that are more or less forgettable and underdeveloped experiments- though, I Got My Tooth Removed’s Phineas and Ferb ass sound is quite amusing if a bit tacky- 10,000 gecs is another serving of addictive bangers that no band besides 100 gecs could make. Unfortunately, however, the record carries over the fleeting nature of 1,000 gecs, leaving me feeling fiending for me as I continue to press replay on this addicting batch of tracks. Looking on the brighter side, this makes the batch of tracks all the more precious. 100 gecs are an oddity in modern music- the musical personification of spending all your days numbing your mind as you scroll through TikTok, hunched over your desk with bags piling up under your eyes as you stay awake for twenty-four hours, fueled off of nothing but energy drinks. It is a stupid album for stupid people. Luckily, I am a stupid motherfucker. Past the irony-drenched gimmick of the album are songs that don’t try to be anything more than they are; candid and unapologetic songs that are dumb, goofy, and catchy. Sit back and have some nerdy fun, don’t be such a stickler.

…And who knows, maybe this will inspire some future hyper-pop artists to innovate the genre forward rather than continue to play it safe. One can only hope.

Favorite Tracks: Dumbest Girl Alive, 757, Hollywood Baby, Frog On The Floor, Doritos & Fritos, Billy Knows Jamie, One Million Dollars
Worst Track: The Most Wanted Person In The United States