On their long-awaited blockbuster sequel, Laura Les and Dylan Brady bring their entire arsenal of weird, coked up ideas. The sheer amount of tricks that these two goofballs put into 27 minutes is astounding and above all, unprecedented. 10,000 gecs is worthy of its title: it's ten times more absurd, crazy, unpredictable and wildly entertaining than 1,000 gecs.
Chilling in their one bedroom apartment, there's a couple of 20-somethings with long blonde hair that are chugging Monster energy drinks, eating week-old pizza, playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and are somehow smoking weed through a Camelback backpack. That's the kind of vibe I get from Laura Les and Dylan Brady when I listen to their music. As 100 gecs, the duo have an extremely unique sound that seems to be increasingly harder and harder to explain as their career moves forward. As if all of your least favorite genres from the 90's and early 2000's fell into a pool of acid along with your current hyperpop darlings, 100 gecs seem to do the impossible by meshing these countless, seemingly random genres and styles into actually enjoyable music that's equally silly as it is catchy. It's often abrasive, off putting, and uncomfortable to the casual listener but over time, you can definitely fall into the deep, ridiculous rabbit hole they've effortlessly dug the listener into. The duo's debut album, 1,000 gecs, is a wild ride featuring almost everything from ska to dubstep to screamo to hip hop to pop. It's still a wild ride after about four years since its release and the future for the duo seemed endless with possibilities.
After the big surprise of signing with not just any major label but the one and only Atlantic Records, what's the next scheme in the duo's intricately planned tomfoolery? Well, it's certainly taken a while to find out since the duo initially announced their follow up, appropriately titled 10,000 gecs, almost one and a half years ago. They released a few lead singles over that time and after numerous delays, we are finally able to experience what is expected to be the duo's long awaited blockbuster sequel. 10,000 gecs is worthy of its title: it's 10 times more absurd, crazy, unpredictable and wildly entertaining than 1,000 gecs. The sheer amount of tricks that these two goofballs are able to stuff into 27 minutes is not only insane but is actually quite groundbreaking. The production is even crazier, bigger, and bolder and the songwriting is even more memorable and funnier than ever. The duo's personality is at over 10,000 gecs worth of pure chaos meant to be played at maximum volume.
The album starts on a raging high note with "Dumbest Girl Alive," a track that features Les bragging about being the song's title. The first thing you here is the rising bombast of the classic THX logo animation, which is an absolutely legendary way to start a record. Then there's overblown guitars, smashing drums, blaring beats, Les rapping about putting emojis on her grave, doing science on her brain, and money coming out of her eyes. And this is just the beginning, folks! Next we have "757," another crazy track that's going at 200 mph with the brake pedal broken. Over a glitchy booming instrumental, its speedy pace reminds me of the off the wall "745" on their last album but even more hopped up on Monster energy. The highlight features one of the most 100 gecs lines imaginable: "I smell the trees when I'm in Colorado / interior gas station McDonald's." The next track, "Hollywood Baby," is the third single released on the album. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. It might even be my favorite on the album and that's a strong statement because the previous two singles are incredible too. It's the most overblown, busted pop rock song ever released in 2023 and it's absolutely masterful at how it purposefully sounds like you're supposed to be blasting this out of your cassette player turned aux player from your 2005 Honda Civic. It's repetitiveness in the song's hooks may rub people the wrong way but it's a spectacularly entertaining ear worm to say the very least.
"Frog on the Floor" is the album's most unpredictable and hilarious moment. I guess I didn't know what to expect when I initially saw this in the track listing but dang... it delivers exactly what the song's title suggests. I don't want to spoil too much of the song's lyrics because it's really something so extraordinary that you have to hear it for yourself. It's a cute ska song about befriending a frog who happens to be on the floor. Instrumentally it's actually one of the prettier moments on the entire album. The production here is quite tasteful and the melodies are sung really nicely. It almost sounds like a b-side to Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride if Ezra Koenig dropped acid while watching a frog documentary. There's a harmony that sounds almost identical to one from Paul Simon's Graceland. The random things one can pick up from these gecs' music... lmao. "Doritos & Fritos" is an absolute banger and continues to be since it was released last year. As my second favorite song of 2022 (let's be honest, it should've been number one), "Doritos & Fritos" is a ska punk rock song that surprisingly has an indie rock flare to it. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard this one on college radio or even Sirius XMU (shoutout to the peeps who listen to XMU).
On "Billy Knows Jamie," 100 gecs go full Limp Bizkit and absolutely go batshit insane for nearly three minutes. Rapping about Jamie being arguably the one person you do NOT want to mess with over some record scratching beats, I could see the numerous mosh pits forming as I write this. You remember the skull crushing screamo breakdown on "800db cloud?" Welp... 100 gecs do another screamo breakdown that's even louder and more insane. The first time I heard this, I found it to be frightening and hilarious at the same time. It's glorious. When they shout "badabing-badaboom" over a massive bass explosion? It's the cherry on top. Chef's kiss. "One Million Dollars" might be my least favorite on the entire album but that doesn't mean it's not worth listening to. There's still some amazing and creative genres being mashed into it: dubstep, RCHP-like alternative rap rock, some surprising industrial noise rock. I guess it's my least favorite just because of the lack of lyrical variety (there's a Tik-Tok-like voice reciting the song's title over and over) but it's still a great track regardless of it being my least favorite.
"The Most Wanted Person In the United States" is a dub-infused braggadocios song about being exactly the high tailing criminal that the song's title suggests. This one probably has the most crazy effects going on throughout the track. There's so much so that I probably can't even describe it all: a Scary Movie sample, cartoon dashing and gun shot sound effects, dogs barking, a police scanner calling about the criminal's wanted arrest... and that's just a taste of all that's going on here. It has some of the most outlandish and memorable lyrics you'll hear all year, including some of my favorite lines: rhyming "Anthony Kiedis" with "sucking on my penis," "I just killed your dad and then I took his money," "never fall asleep without my finger on the trigger." The next song, "I Got My Tooth Removed," actually starts out like an acoustic Ed Sheeran parody song. Then it suddenly kicks into a grooving ska punk song out of nowhere with Les rapping all about her issues with her tooth. It's gloriously entertaining and I can't help but relate to the lyrics since I got two of my wisdom teeth removed recently. The album's final track ends things with another bang on "mememe," the duo's lead single for the album. Released in 2021, "mememe" is still an outstanding pop tune with elements of ska and glitchy vocal hyperpop that remains to be a favorite to this day.
So yeah... 10,000 gecs is one wild ride. As short as this album is, which is at a total of just 27 minutes, there is a massive amount of replay ability within all of these ten songs. There is a certain magic that only these two wizards can pull off, which is the ability to create this level of digital absurdity that is as wildly goofy as it is insanely catchy. Everything about 10,000 gecs makes the entertainment value of this listening experience off the charts: the crazy production and unpredictable genre mashups, the hilariously absurd lyrics, the goofy and incredibly charming personalities of both Laura Les and Dylan Brady. I wasn't sure if they were able to pull off a big budget sequel to 1,000 gecs and I'm sure I'm not the only one. But they didn't just pull it off, they were able to do something that nobody has ever done before. Like I said before, the sheer volume that 100 gecs put into these 27 minutes is astounding and above all, unprecedented. I can't remember the last time a new album has been this fun, engaging, and memorable of an experience to listen to... let alone one worth repeating over and over again until your ears fall off.
My Rating: 10 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Hollywood Baby," "Doritos & Fritos," "mememe," "Frog on the Floor," "Dumbest Girl Alive," "I Got My Tooth Removed," "The Most Wanted Person In the United States," "757," "Billy Knows Jamie," "One Million Dollars"
My Favorite Lyrical Moments from 10,000 gecs:
"I smell the trees when I'm in Colorado / interior gas station McDonald's."
- "757"
"Okay I saw a bee, it flew into a screen."
- "Doritos & Fritos"
"And then he got on his front legs and did a keg stand / wow that's so cool, I wish I was there so I could see it."
- "Frog on the Floor"
"Queen of California, hot like the heat is / got Anthony Kiedis, sucking on my penis"
- "The Most Wanted Person In the United States"
"Can we just work this out man? Like seriously, you don't have to do this, man."
- "Billy Knows Jamie"
"And I broke my arm when my dad crashed the go-kart / he didn't mean to, my mom didn't buy it."
- "mememe"
"Put emojis on my grave / I'm the dumbest girl alive."
- "Dumbest Girl Alive"
"It doesn't hurt me everyday so I just let it get away / I'll deal with it another day, I guess that day just never came."
- "I Got My Tooth Removed"
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