REVIEW: 100 gecs are slimier and sillier than ever on latest album ‘10,000 gecs’

Oh how much we missed you, 100 gecs. If you’ve been in the online sphere since the release of the Laura Les and Dylan Brady duo’s first single, you’ve probably had at least one conversation with friends about whether the pair’s music is really good or just a raspy, slightly funnier one Joke. Regardless, the group’s latest release 10,000 gecs proves they’re here to stay, maintaining the skillful production and irreverent confidence that made their debut so compelling and proving they have even more tricks up their sleeves.

At first glance, the album could easily be mistaken for an EP: At 27 minutes, 10,000 gecs is just four minutes longer than their 2019 performance, 1,000 gecs, and a full 24 minutes shorter than their sprawling remix album, 1,000 gecs & The Tree of Clues,” released in 2020. But the shorter runtime is probably for the best: Anything longer and you might feel overwhelmed, as the duo manage to cram more production details into a song than some artists do full albums.

This brevity is also reflected in the songs. With only 10 tracks, each song ranges in length from one minute and fifty seconds to three minutes. Not only that, a number of tracks feature a beat switch or two, making each segment of the song even shorter. However, there is never a moment when you feel a song is too short or a beat change too abrupt; 100 Gecs understand when a salute is exceeded and do an excellent job of preventing it.

This way of thinking carries over into the sound of the album. Instead of repeating what worked with “1,000 gecs”, the two break new ground with almost every song: “Billy Knows Jamie” could easily pass as a limp bizkit deep cut, “I Got My Tooth Removed” proves that it’s ska once again never die and “Frog On The Floor” is, well, kind of stupid – but, man, if it’s not catchy.

In general, the sound of the album has almost more in common with Blink-182 or Green Day than with Charli XCX or Dorian Electra. It’s almost Y2K in sound form: the elements of the early 2000s sound with enough creativity and irony to make it work, mixed with more modern production techniques.

There are still tracks here that feel like familiar terrain. Songs like “757” and “mememe” could quite easily fit into their debut tracklist, but only in the most abstract sense: the sound is generally the same, but 100 gecs demonstrates a certain maturity and precision on this latest outing, which has been at absent from her debut. It’s loud, distorted, and messy, but just as clean, polished, and pristine.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper 100 Gecs project if you didn’t constantly wonder if they were joking or not. “Are the only vocals on ‘One Million Dollars’ really just a computer generated voice saying ‘One Million Dollars’ for two minutes?” Yes. Is it also packed with creative production opportunities, a catchy beat and a subtle condemnation of consumer culture? Yes.

The album is not without its flaws, however small and finicky they may be. The track “The Most Wanted Person In The United States” eventually finds its groove, but Brady’s vocals on the first and third parts of the song come across as more of a bad Lil Peep impression than anything else, somewhat hampering the song. The song “Doritos & Fritos” is probably the best on the album, but it was also released as the lead single back in April 2022. The song is still fantastic, but it’s a shame the rest of the album doesn’t quite do it justice (if only marginally).

If you’re still firmly in the anti-100 Gecs camp, this album probably won’t change your mind: it’s still packed to the brim with all the subtle ironies and unsubtle production that initially made the duo so controversial . For those of us gecs, though, it’s a thoroughly catchy, fun, and overall exciting listen – if slightly disappointing.

John Scott is Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnSnott