Image depicting Laura Less and Dylan Brady. Less and Brady make up 100 gecs which just released a new album: 10,000 gecs. Illustration by Everette Cogswell.
100 gecs, a staple in the hyperpop genre, just released their second studio album “10,000 gecs,” another attempt at anti-pop and an intense loud obnoxious take on hyperpop. It has similarities to their album “1,000 gecs,” but this time has a lot of Nu metal (a blend between heavy metal and hip hop) inspiration.
“Dumbest Girl Alive” is one of the more grungy tracks on the album. Due to its combination of intense metal riffs with punchy distorted drums and rough dubstep snares, I was hit with an intense bass face listening to the first part of this song. The switch-up that happens halfway through the track was really off putting. Using the sicko mode 808 combined with Laura Less’s intensely auto tuned vocals, I burst out laughing when I first heard it. I really enjoyed the intense metal-inspired riffs throughout the track; it really carried my intrigue for this track, 8/10.
“757” uses a hyper-core progression throughout the song but uniquely combines it with the 100 gecs distorted kick and snare sound. Though it kind of got on my nerves after a while, the ending half of the song was good due to the use of death step metal snares with a complete switch up in flow. I enjoyed this song, but not as much as the previous one, 7/10.
“Hollywood Baby,” the lead single for the album, has a very Nu metal sound. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did due to its very annoying guitar riff at the start. The flow of this song was excellent though; it had my head banging to it. Sadly, I think it was one of the last good songs on the album, 7/10.
“Frog on the Floor” might be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. It took a Paul Simon-esque sound and gec-ified it. The autotune of Laura was really obnoxious, and the whole progression of the song bothered me, especially the annoying frog sample blasting in the background throughout the song. I can’t believe they would ever release this, 1/10.
“Doritos & Fritos” might also be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard. It was certainly better than “Frogs on the Floor,” but the obnoxious vocals combined with the annoying guitar pissed me off. I felt like I needed to stick soap in my ears after listening to this track; I felt disgusted, like my soul had been tainted with how awful it was. I get the silly anti-pop take, but it was really just awful on this track, 1/10.
“Billy Knows Jamie” is certainly a step up from the last few tracks. Back to the heavy guitar riffs, with distorted and roomy vocals over top; it reminded me a lot of Beastie Boys, but again with a Nu metal take. I enjoyed the break from a hyperpop sound because the obnoxious and absurdist sounds were really getting on my nerves. I loved the death metal ending to it. It was so heavy and caught me off guard; I’m going to give this track an 8/10.
“One Million Dollars” is terrible, that’s all I have to say. It would be good if it didn’t have the TikTok AI voice saying “one million dollars” over and over again. The super-processed vocal sample at the end was awful; the heavy drums did compliment it though, which made me hate it a little less. Overall this song was bad, 2/10.
“The Most Wanted Person In The United States” is a lot more laid back than the rest of the album, but it still achieves an annoying obnoxious sound that is borderline unlistenable. They used a lot of cartoon sound effects in this track, and its sound reminded me of early RebMoe with their muffled vocals and absurd instrumental, but without the charm. Another miss from them, 2/10.
“I Got My Tooth Removed” has a soulful and emotional intro, but of course, this is 100 gecs, so it wasn’t going to stay this way. The switch up to an upbeat Nu metal song with Laura singing about getting her tooth removed put a smile on my face. I thought I would hate it because normally this style of song gets on my nerves, but I really enjoyed it and I could feel the silly and joking energy they must have had when recording it. I also like how they went back to the soulful style toward the end but then switched back to the happy-go-lucky style right before the end, 7/10.
“Mememe” starts with the same annoying sound as the previous awful tracks, but the switch up to metal helps it out a lot. However, Laura’s lyrics,“me me me” and “no no no” were maddening. I hated this song but not as much as previous ones. I’m going to give this a 3/10, with the metal riffs helping it out a lot for the overall score.
I came into this album with high expectations because I enjoyed 1,000 gecs a lot, but it really felt like a downgrade from their previous work. When Dylan Brady collabed with Skrillex for their track “Supersonic,” it set a higher standard for his production for me. But this album was truly a disappointment, aside from the few tracks I liked. Overall I’m giving this album a 4/10.
