Listen, this album isn't for everyone. I get iot. It doesn't help matters that this is sort of a major label coming out party for the duo, and the mainstream introduction to hyperpop is a little less frenetic and a little more melodic. The production values and level of investment is clear, and 25 years ago they'd probably be accused of "selling out." But then you're about midway through and a song called "Frog on the Floor" comes on that's basically a love letter to 1990s ska music with a frog croaking on the downbeat and you realize that the evolution of sound is deliberate.
At well under under 30 minutes, it's gone before it starts in many ways, but it's also deliberately scattered across its runtime in a way that shifts themes before you can get into a groove. That unpredictability means that a song like "Hollywood Baby" and its traditional noisy rock trappings can run into the "Frog on the Floor" ska sendup into the anthemic "Doritos and Fritos." By the time you get to "One Million Dollars" or "mememe," the "classic gecs" sound doesn't feel out-of-place at all even if it doesn't match the same way.
Chances are, if you know this album, you already know if you love or hate it. I loved it, obviously, but 100 gecs becoming the breakout indie stars of the year probably wasn't on anyone's bingo card.
Songs of Note: "Hollywood Baby," "Frog on the Floor," "Doritos and Fritos," "The Most Wanted Person in the United States"
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