Album Review: 100 gecs – 10,000 gecs

Electrifying, eclectic and effortlessly enthralling

American electronic duo 100 gecs’ freshly released studio album, 10,000 gecs, is a free-for-all aural experience that listeners just cannot miss out on. The group’s sound can be described as a chaotic coup on the ears in the most satiating way, satisfying the deepest corners of listeners’ minds. The duo consists of Dylan Brady and Laura Les who have created a name for themselves by venturing into the realms of electropop, experimental electronic, hyperpop and more.

The album’s sound is a mix of their usual hyperpop compositions, but seems to embrace a more eclectic vibe. The range of 10,000 gecs tracks could be heard from an underground rave to a cookout with songs like, “Doritos & Fritos” or “Hollywood Baby.” Even parents would not be able to resist cracking open a cold one and indulging in the more punk rock songs on this unbound album. 

The opener, “Dumbest Girl Alive” kicks off 10,000 gecs with a “get your popcorn ready because the show is about to start” type of energy. The track opens with a sampling of a THX sound effect, immediately followed by the incorporation of warbling scratches on table turners and a thunderous, amplifying chord progression. The addition of a heavy, booming drumbeat layered on top of the enraged melody gets listeners headbanging right off the bat.

10,000 gecs then transitions to “757,” which transfers listeners’ minds into 100 gecs’ niche, hyperpop universe with the opening sound of shrill, pinging electro beats. As the intro escalates, the electronic melody is spliced together with Brady’s electrifying vocals and a steady drum progression, which is rapidly garbled into an anarchic sound before transitioning into the first verse. This song incites feelings of living the “high” life, partying like it’s the last day on Earth and never slowing down even for a second, perfectly exemplified by, “All these horses in my engine / Doing eighty in a thirty / But I’m never in a hurry / Screaming, ‘La-di-da-di-da-di / All I wanna do is party’ / Drinkin’ bottles of Moscato.” All of the tracks have their own unmistakable, enthralling concepts. However, songs like “Billy Knows Jamie” and “I Got My Tooth Removed,” are unparalleled in comparison with the other tracks.

The sixth song on the track, “Billy Knows Jamie” opens with a brief sampling of analog beeps,  quickly switching into Brady’s monotone vocal introduction and a throbbing bass line before the chaos materializes. As the group moves into the first verse, their use of the stinkiest-sounding turner tunes are applied to transition into their metallic punk rock progression–aggressive guitar chords and clashing drums–with additional sounds of cracking electronic harmonies will make listeners’ want to scream-shout the lyrics wherever they are–in the car, in their room or even in a crowd full of random people. The only word that comes to mind for the song’s outro is perfection. As the middle-end of the song begins to mellow out and whisper, listeners abruptly hear the most earth-shattering, satisfying scream and heavy metal progression on this track. Never in a million years would this have been expected from a well-renowned electropop duo and it was executed to perfection. 

The ninth song on 10,000 gecs, “I Got My Tooth Removed” sounds almost like a ska novelty song–humorous, original and upbeat–however, the intro is nothing of the sort. When the track first opens, the vocals and instrumental composition gives off a melodramatic love ballad, but when Brady starts harmonizing the lyrics, “You were mean / Such an asshole,” listeners can sense that “a profound love piece” is not the direction Les and Brady are going for in this eccentric song. As the intro drops off, the audience can hear, “1, 2, 3,” before bursting into “I got my tooth removed,” repetitively layered on top of energetic drum patterns, fervent trumpets and a bass progression. Without 100 gecs’ confirmation, listeners will not be able to tell if this is a song about removing something bothersome in their life or if it is genuinely about a tooth being removed– “I might grab the pliers and just rip it out myself / But if it’s gonna fix itself I guess it’s just as well / It doesn’t hurt me every day so I just let it get away”–nonetheless, a paragon of a song. 

All of the songs on this enthralling, eclectic masterpiece of an album embody 100 gecs’ experimental musical and lyrical approaches that effortlessly grasp each of the concepts they apply to their unorthodox arrangements. 10,000 gecs keeps listeners’ on the edge of their seats in suspense of what Les and Brady will throw at them next and provide them with a raunchy anarchic experience they will never forget.