As much as there has been commentary about hyperpop being a dying (or already dead) form of chronically online music creation & expression, the artistic evolution of its pioneers has been more than enough to prove that the post-post-ironic thrill of it as a 'movement' has much more steam in the tank than its detractors assume. That energy is just being siphoned off into new expansions of other subgenres, subcultures, and artistic styles—which is what explains, after the four year break between their primary records, the blood-pumping alt-rock of 10,000 gecs.

Its main sound bed, courtesy of Laura Les and Dylan Brady, is only loosely connected to what made their previous 1000 gecs so incessant and singular; a lot of the autotune has been toned down, the drums and guitars are more recognizable and (at least much closer to) analogue, and most of the song structures are more easily understandable on initial listens. That doesn't mean that there's anything keeping this nailed down though; both of their energies are utterly incalculable, swinging wildly between repeated, grinning chants on Hollywood Baby, deadpan commentary on The Most Wanted Person in the United States, jocund and tropical simplicity on Frog on the Floor, or all-encompassing rage and agony on Billy Knows Jamie.

The swings in-between all of these emotions certainly keeps it intriguing, and its progressions feel, at their core, completely natural; each instrumental palette, despite being so disparate in their absolutes, flow uncharacteristically well. That's at least something to commend in spades, being able to check so many boxes and make it feel carelessly enjoyable and incredibly second nature. And the group's updates on their love of ska on especially Doritos & Fritos and I Got My Tooth Removed, while slightly less immediate compared to stupid horse on their debut, are fun romps for their own sake.

And the commentary present, at least after you peel the commotion back a few layers, is something to chew on—it vaguely gestures towards cultural homogenization and gender dysphoria, respectively, on those two aforementioned tracks, along with celebrity culture on Hollywood Baby, cultural outlaws and targets on The Most Wanted Person in the United States, and self-aware, personal disconnection on mememe. Its most apt commentaries, surely, are those where you're not sure how direct Les and Brady are being; the quirky backdrops keep any of their finger pointing below a translucent surface of noisy anthems.

Billy Knows Jamie is certainly their most confounding, off-putting, and heavy track, calling back to rap metal outfits like Limp Bizkit and completely outdoing anything Fred Durst ever put his hands on—as much as Laura's quoted love for them explains a good deal of her artistic variance, along with the cultural context she's most familiar with and able to replicate so well. The track's breakdown is harrowing, her blood-curdling screams interjecting at the end, exploding with enough vitriol to make One Million Dollars afterwards feel like a necessary cooldown and sound palette reset, à la I Need Help Immediately.

The final three tracks have enough personality to fill the shoes of what came before, with lines like "Got Anthony Kiedis sucking on my penis" and "I fuck with fire, burn my dick, play violin on sinking ships" feeling especially (and partially satirically) rebellious coming from Laura—and the final mememe is one of the most timeless anthems they've put to tape, without a doubt.

10,000 gecs is just a bit of an all-over-the-place masterclass in resuscitating dead genres and styles from the 90's and 00's, whereby it doesn't always result in some of their best material, but its unbridled, self-aware character is incredibly impressive, despite any cohesion or style hiccups there might be. And it's another really good example of hyperpop artists taking everything that makes their artistic flair so captivating, and putting their all into anything else that interests them—simply for the sake of making electrifying and mind-bending art, with touches of late millennial angst and cultural references.