The line between cool and stupid is often fine and hard to walk, but Laura Les and Dylan Brady have made walking the line their mark. In the seven years that they have been working together as 100 gecs, the duo have gone from pioneering hyperpop to embracing a chaotic, pyrotechnic sound: a riot of just about everything within reach, from ska to pop-punk and chiptune to death metal. If there is one constant that has driven this anarchism from the beginning, it has been the ability of Les and Brady to exploit the absurd in unserious yet totally non-ironic ways, their sensitivity to the potential that exists in the ridiculous that allows them not to be limited by any kind of rule, create with confidence and the abundance of references that only the chronically-online can muster.
As the title indicates “10,000 gecs”, their second album is an extension of the idiosyncrasies that marked previous efforts. Perhaps “refined” is never the word to describe a project of 100 gecsbut in less than half an hour this new work presents a more precise version of the eclecticism that elevated them to the forefront of experimental pop without giving up the sass that made them widely divisive artists.
Although the intensity of the autotune and vocal distortions have been reduced (Les decided to take singing lessons during the pandemic to feel less restricted in her creative process), “10,000 gecs” It’s still a hyper and blaring record: “757″ sketches the duo battling marijuana-induced paranoia through a hazy wall of abrasive synths and pounding percussion, and repeats on “One Million Dollars” they go from inspiring rave rush to demonic possession in dizzying fashion. This time, however, 100 gecs they riot us more openly from pop-punk than from experimental electronica, as the album’s singles demonstrate: in “Doritos & Fritos”, outline an insomniac delirium with rhymes that sound like songs to jump rope (“Okay, I went to France/to get some new pants/I went to Greece/to get something to eat”) and a keyboard that seems to recreate the tuning of an old modem; in “Hollywood Baby”they emulate blink-182 while poking fun at the golden daydreams and consequent frustrations that are rife among the population of the titular neighborhood.
If the surreal concepts that 100 gecs they constantly throw themselves against the wall (which, in this case, includes a breakup song about pulling teeth and a nu-metal/rap rock duology about a psycho killer killing the object of his obsession and then going on the run) work, it is because the duo always works from the most absolute frankness. “We started out fooling around… and we’re still just two friends having a good time.” Laura confessed to Kerrang! just a few days ago. At the center of everything they do, once stripped of the artifices of their fantasies, one can practically see them both in a room trying to find new ways to make each other laugh: they convey the kind of chemistry and genuine delight in what they do that transforms a song about a frog at a party into an authentic ode to vulnerability and friendship.
If we consider “meme”the track that closes the album, as a declaration of intent, 100 gecs they plan to continue investigating the unusual places their connection may take them. when they sing “You’ll never really know (know-know-know-know-know-know) / Anything about me (me-me-me-me-me)”it sounds like an explicit promise that they will continue to be just as unpredictable and an implicit hint that it will be just as fun.