Getting Ready to Gec Again
Graphic by Lily Hartenstein
By Patrick McGill
When did we get this notion that only bad music is funny? Did it come from years of taking in based boosted memes and offbeat renditions of famous rap songs that seem to pop up on every teen’s Instagram feed? Or is it that good music is automatically meant to be taken seriously, actively listened to, and felt deeply. If that’s the case, how did 100 Gecs simultaneously become pop’s most experimental group and the funniest listening experience in a long time?
In the summer of 2019, the hyperpop duo released their debut record, the hilariously titled 1000 Gecs, giving listeners a clear indicator of what to expect before they pressed play. Loud, absurdist, and self-aware cuts like “Money Machine” and “Stupid Horse” gave glimpses of the groups niche humor as well as their inclination towards distortion and unconventional mixing. Upon diving deeper, poppier cuts such as “Ringtone” presented a deeper look into members Laura Les and Dylan Brady’s clear talent for melody and excellent hook writing.
100 Gecs, despite doing everything in their power to reject it, only grew in mainstream popularity. By July of 2020, it seemed that everyone wanted new material. Les and Brady answered with 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues, a remix record with collaborations ranging from left brain hip-hop group Injury Reserve and hyperpop trendsetter Charli XCX. Finally, armed with a cult fan base, the group went on tour in 2021 performing lots of new material for their next album, the appropriately named 10000 Gecs.
For those that missed the live dates, the first tastes of 10000 Gecs came in the form of singles “mememe” and “Doritos and Fritos”. While both didn’t show any massive sonic evolutions, smaller changes like tighter structures and the incorporation of real instruments, like the springy and zany bassline in “Doritos”, paired with the band’s signature digital aesthetic. After some delays and relative silence, we now have a firm date for their sophomore LP as well as a fresh peak at what’s to come in the form of the recently released Snake Eyes EP. Consisting of three songs that clock in at a total of six minutes, Snake Eyes may not quite be the standalone ‘5000 Gecs’ some were hoping for but serves its purpose in getting fans excited about what’s to come.
Starting off on the right foot with lead track “Hey Big Man”, Les and Brady present one of their most aggressive songs yet—and that’s really saying something. Driven by harsh and distorted guitar stabs over drums so deteriorated it feels like the kit’s about to break, the duo crafts a crushing marriage of rap and rock similar to Rick Rubin’s 80s production with a pleasantly nightmarish, modern, intensity. On top of the music are the group’s wonderfully silly lyrics with subject matter criss-crossing from jumping on a mattress in dirty Vans to going to a party and doing “. . . a human centipede,”. Rather than being obnoxious, the track instead feels freeing, reveling in its overt juvenility.
After the abrupt end of the previous song, the EP then moves into “Torture Me”. The longest track and featuring a Skrillex assist on production, the song serves as a nice tonal accompaniment to “Big Man”. With heavier reliance on melody and chorus, the song sways towards some of 100 Gecs’ more poppy works with the chorus coming off like “Ringtone” in some instances. However, what saves it from being too reminiscent is how briskly the tune moves. Going from section to section with small production changes and clever usage of autotune, the song feels alive and interested in holding your attention the entire way through, keeping you on your toes until the piano outro transitions nicely into final track “Runaway”.
Though it may easily be the most forgettable on the EP, having fewer sections and beat changes than its predecessors, “Runaway” still rings the most emotionally true. Focusing in on relationships and the wish to simply run to and from them, lines sung earnestly by Les (“I run / Caught in a moment / Caught in a dream / But it wasn’t for me”) show maturity on the duo’s part. The instrumental on the other hand, especially its anticlimactic final moments, seems repetitive, ending the EP on an unsatisfying note. In spite of that, Snake Eyes, in its short trifecta of songs, still works well as a microcosm of what makes 100 Gecs so enticing: aggressive, hilarious, and featuring hidden depths that only open minded listeners can pick up on. Either way, it will surely make you want to listen to 10000 Gecs this March.