''1000 Gecs'' (stylized as ''1000 gecs'' or ''1000 gec'') is the debut studio album by American
hyperpop
Hyperpop is a loosely-defined music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early-to-mid 2010s. It is characterized by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music, and artists within the genre ...
duo
100 Gecs
100 Gecs (stylized in all lowercase) are an American hyperpop duo formed in 2015 that consists of Dylan Brady and Laura Les. They self-released their debut album, ''1000 Gecs'', in 2019 to critical acclaim, followed by a "companion" remix alb ...
. It was released on May 31, 2019, through Dog Show Records two days after the single " Money Machine" was released.
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
''1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues'' (stylized as ''1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues'') is the debut remix album by American experimental music duo 100 gecs, released on July 10, 2020, by Dog Show Records, Big Beat Records and Atlantic Records. It ...
''(2020).
Composition
''1000 Gecs'' is a genre-hopping album, generally described by ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' as
experimental pop
Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental techniques such as musique concrète, a ...
and by ''
Sputnik
Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
2010s
File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed; Crimea is an ...
"
hyperpop
Hyperpop is a loosely-defined music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early-to-mid 2010s. It is characterized by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music, and artists within the genre ...
" style by taking the genre "to its most extreme, and extremely
catchy
Catchiness is how easy it is for a song, tune, or phrase to be recalled. It is often taken into account when writing songs, catchphrases, advertising slogans, jingles etc. Alternatively, it can be defined as how difficult it is for one to forget ...
, conclusions: stadium-sized
trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
beats processed and distorted to near-destruction, overwrought
emo
Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
vocals and cascades of raveyarpeggios." Some genres used to describe certain songs or parts of the album include
post-dubstep
Post-dubstep is an umbrella term applied to a range of musical styles that have been influenced by the sparse, syncopated rhythms and heavy sub-bass of the UK dubstep scene. The breadth of styles associated with the term post-dubstep precluded i ...
,
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
,
pop punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...
,
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
happy hardcore
Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or " hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990 ...
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
,
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a wal ...
, and
Europop
Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...
. The song "xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx" is an
interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points.
In engineering and science, one often has ...
Soulja Boy
DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single " Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peak ...
.
Promotion
The song " Money Machine" was released as a single from the album on May 29, 2019, with a visualizer for the song posted to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
. 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. In June 2019, the band released official merchandise for the album on the Dog Show Records website. An official music video for the song "800dB Cloud" was released on July 25, 2019. 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
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...
''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". Similarly, Fred Thomas at
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
described it as being "jittery, ridiculous, and perpetually short-circuiting" but also "a fine-tuned and controlled
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
product."
In December 2019, ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' music critics
Jon Caramanica
Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music.
Biography
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree f ...
and
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.
Dylan Brady
Dylan Marshall Brady (born November 27, 1993) is an American music producer and singer-songwriter best known for being one half of experimental electronic music duo 100 Gecs, alongside Laura Les. He also owns and operates his own record label, ...
*
Laura Les
Laura Les (born December 2, 1994), previously known as osno1, is an American music producer and singer-songwriter best known for being one half of experimental electronic duo 100 Gecs, alongside Dylan Brady.
Early life
Laura Les grew up in a s ...
Artwork
* Gabe Howell – photography
* Nic John – photography
* Mikey Joyce – graphic design