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1000 gecs

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1000 gecs
Studio album by
100 gecs
ReleasedMay 31, 2019 (2019-05-31)
Recorded2018–2019
Genre
Length23:07
LabelDog Show
Producer
100 gecs chronology
100 gecs
(2016) 		1000 gecs
(2019) 		1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues
(2020)
Singles from 1000 gecs
  1. "Money Machine"
    Released: May 29, 2019

1000 gecs is the debut studio album by American hyperpop duo 100 gecs, released on May 31, 2019, through Dog Show Records. It was preceded by the release of lead single "Money Machine" two days earlier.

Featuring an experimental sound that combined several genres, 1000 gecs was well received by critics. It placed on several publications' lists of the best albums of 2019. Remixed and reworked versions of songs from 1000 gecs were later released as part of the follow-up remix album 1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues (2020).[1]

Background and release

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Dylan Brady and Laura Les first met in 2012.[2] They started making music together in the winter of 2015, when Brady met Les in Chicago. There, they officially formed 100 gecs[3] and worked on their eponymous EP,[2][4][5] released the next year.[3] For a time, they both continued to work on their solo releases while also producing for others.[2] In January 2019, they were invited to collaborate on a shared performance at the second edition of the Minecraft Fire Festival, a virtual music festival where Minecraft users gather on a specific server to experience live DJ performances. Brady and Les created several new songs for this set, and the enjoyable experience prompted them to intermittently collaborate throughout the year, eventually accumulating enough material for what later became 1000 gecs.[5] With Brady being in Los Angeles and Les in Chicago, they stated that around 80 percent of the album was done via email,[5] with them sending Logic Pro X files between them.[2][4] Due to this production method, they were called an extremely online act.[5][6] According to Brady, they "didn't really talk about what [they] wanted to do"; they would just send files between them, with Brady and Les adding a new element every time.[4] The work on vocals and production was split evenly between the two.[5]

Brady and Les are against labeling the album with a genre as, according to Brady, 1000 gecs is similar to a compilation album: "We're both just fans of music, so that's just what we put on it". Both cited YouTube, Cannibal Corpse, John Zorn and "nightcore as a concept" as some of their strongest influences.[2] In another interview, Brady mentioned that he enjoyed ska and dubstep and cited influences such as Duck Duck Goose, Soulja Boy, Devil Wears Prada, Chiodos, and Paramore.[4] Les recorded her vocals in her closet.[5] Her vocals are exclusively pitched-up, "nightcore style", due to her gender dysphoria, since she couldn't listen to her own voice.[4]

The song "Money Machine" was released as a single from the album on May 29, 2019,[7] with a visualizer for the song posted to YouTube.[8] The song quickly became the duo's most successful and well known song to date, and on June 13, 2019, an official music video for the song was released.[9] In June 2019, the band released official merchandise for the album on the Dog Show Records website.[10] An official music video for the song "800dB Cloud" was released on July 25, 2019.[11] Over a year later, an official music video for "Hand Crushed by a Mallet" was released on October 9, 2020. In August 2019, 100 Gecs released the album's instrumentals, stems, and a cappella vocals for free download.[12]

Composition

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1000 gecs is a genre-hopping album, generally described by Pitchfork as experimental pop[13] and by Sputnik as bubblegum bass.[14] According to Will Pritchard of The Independent, the album helped to consolidate the eclectic 2010s "hyperpop" style by taking the genre "to its most extreme, and extremely catchy, conclusions: stadium-sized trap beats processed and distorted to near-destruction, overwrought emo vocals and cascades of ravey arpeggios."[15] Some genres used to describe certain songs or parts of the album include post-dubstep,[16] indie pop,[13] pop punk,[13] trance,[13] chiptune,[13] happy hardcore,[14] hip hop,[14] synth-pop,[14] ska,[17] and Europop.[17] The song "xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx" contains an interpolation of "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" by Soulja Boy. The cover art for the album features the 100 gecs Tree.[18]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
Paste7.9/10[17]
Pitchfork7.4/10[13]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5[14]
Consumer GuideA−[20]

1000 Gecs received generally positive reviews from critics. Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork gave the album a rating of 7.4 out of 10, calling it "one of the year's most fascinating, exhilarating experimental pop albums".[13] Similarly, Fred Thomas at AllMusic described it as being "jittery, ridiculous, and perpetually short-circuiting" but also "a fine-tuned and controlled pop product."[19]

In December 2019, New York Times music critics Jon Caramanica and Jon Pareles rated 1000 Gecs #1 and #10 respectively in their "Best Albums of 2019" article.[21] 1000 gecs is considered the first mainstream hyperpop album,[22] being responsible for the genre's popularity.[23]

Accolades

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Publication List Rank
Crack Magazine The Top 50 Albums of the Year 25[24]
Jon Caramanica for The New York Times Best Albums of 2019 1[25]
Jon Pareles for The New York Times Best Albums of 2019 10[25]
Noisey The 100 Best Albums of 2019 1[26]
Paper Top 20 Albums of 2019 6[27]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2019 42[28]
PopMatters The 70 Best Albums of 2019 50[29]
Rolling Stone The 50 Best Albums of 2019 19[30]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2019 27[31]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Dylan Brady and Laura Les

No.TitleLength
1."745 Sticky"2:21
2."Money Machine"1:54
3."800db Cloud"2:20
4."I Need Help Immediately"1:22
5."Stupid Horse"2:02
6."xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_üXXx"2:55
7."Ringtone"2:24
8."GecGecGec"2:24
9."Hand Crushed by a Mallet"2:07
10."Gec 2 Ü"3:18
Total length:23:07

Personnel

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100 Gecs

Artwork

  • Gabe Howell – photography
  • Nic John – photography
  • Mira Joyce – graphic design

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2019–20) Peak
position
US Top Current Albums (Billboard)[32] 94
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[33] 7
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[34] 36

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "100 Gecs: "People think we've staked our entire career on being ironic"". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2020-07-10. Archived from the original on 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e "The brilliant pop anarchy of 100 gecs". The Fader. Archived from the original on 2019-09-14. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  3. ^ a b "100 gecs: "We started out doing the goofiest shit… and we're still just two friends having fun"". Kerrang!. 2023-03-15. Archived from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e Hyun Kim, Michelle (2020-01-16). "Meet 100 gecs, the Absurdist Pop Duo Inspired By Everything on the Internet". Them. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Enis, Eli. "The batshit album that explains how 2019 feels". The Outline. Archived from the original on 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  6. ^ Pappademas, Alex (2020-06-01). "Into the Void with 100 Gecs". GQ. Archived from the original on 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  7. ^ "money machine - Single by 100 gecs". Music.apple.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  8. ^ "100 gecs - money machine (VISUALIZER)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  9. ^ "100 Gecs bring their track "money machine" to life in a new video". Elevatormag.com. June 17, 2019. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "1000gecs - Dogshow Records". Dogshowrecords.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Watch 100 gecs' unnervingly voyeuristic "800db cloud" video". Thefader.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Flex Your Producer Skills With This Pack Of Stems From LA Avant-Pop Group 100 gecs". Electronic Beats. August 30, 2019. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Fitzmaurice, Larry (July 27, 2019). "100 gecs: 1000 gecs". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d e Fitzmaurice, Larry (July 8, 2019). "Review: 100 gecs - 1000 gecs". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  15. ^ Pritchard, Will (17 December 2020). "Hyperpop or overhyped? The rise of 2020's most maximal sound". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  16. ^ "REVIEW: 100 gecs - 1000 gecs". Kvrx.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  17. ^ a b c Bote, Joshua (December 13, 2019). "No Album Left Behind: 100 gecs' 1000 gecs". Paste. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  18. ^ Sturm, Verity (August 10, 2020). "A Hyperpop Pilgrimage: This tree in Des Plaines is a 'very spiritual experience' for 100 gecs fans". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Thomas, Fred (May 31, 2019). "1000 Gecs - 100 gecs | Songs, Reviews Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 6, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  20. ^ Christgau, Robert (2020-02-12). "Consumer Guide: February 2020". And It Don't Stop. Archived from the original on 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  21. ^ Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon (2019-12-05). "Best Albums of 2019". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  22. ^ "'All journalists like Lana Del Rey': 100 gecs on fame and their divisive new album". The Independent. 2023-04-04. Archived from the original on 2024-01-26. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  23. ^ Ross, Alex Robert (2023-03-17). "100 gecs, seriously". The Fader. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  24. ^ "The Top 50 Albums of the Year". Crack Magazine. December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  25. ^ a b Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon (December 11, 2019). "Best Albums of 2019". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  26. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of 2019". Noisey. December 13, 2019. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  27. ^ "Top 20 Albums Of 2019". Paper. December 18, 2019. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  28. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Pitchfork. December 10, 2019. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  29. ^ "The 70 Best Albums of 2019". PopMatters. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  30. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Rolling Stone. December 5, 2019. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  31. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Stereogum. December 3, 2019. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  32. ^ "Trixie Mattel Chart History: Top Current Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  33. ^ "100 gecs Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  34. ^ "100 gecs Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
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