"Money Machine" (stylized in lowercase) is the debut single by American hyperpop duo 100 gecs, released on May 29, 2019 as the only single from their debut studio album, 1000 Gecs (2019).[1]
| "Money Machine" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by 100 gecs | ||||
| from the album 1000 Gecs | ||||
| Released | May 29, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | January 2019 | |||
| Genre | Hyperpop | |||
| Length | 1:54 | |||
| Label | Dog Show | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| 100 gecs singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Production and release
edit100 Gecs is a duo made up of Laura Les and Dylan Brady. "Money Machine" was produced some time after the release of their debut EP 100 Gecs, because they were interested in returning with the project. Brady started the project, creating the melody on Logic Pro. Les thought the instrumental was "sarcastic", as if the bass was "laughing at you". She recorded "a hilarious burst of trash talk" after fighting with men and after a day of working at her job. Les explained: "I had been watching a lot of King of the Hill, and I constructed in my head a sort of Hank Hill asshole character to just absolutely break down. I was just kind of getting into that sort of mindset of these people that I’d grown up with, these people in St. Louis talking about their big trucks." About the song title, Brady said that he gets inspiration for song titles from objects; "must have been some money on the ground".[2]
A remix by A. G. Cook was released on October 23, 2019, as the lead single off of their first remix album 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues.[3]
Composition
editIn "a whiny chipmunk voice"[4] and "[taking] the idea of asserting dominance lyrically to the absurd",[5] the song opens with the lyrics "Hey you lil piss baby / You think you're so fucking cool, huh? / You think you're so fucking tough / You talk a lotta big game for someone with such a small truck",[4] "[scanning] as pure chest-puffing braggadocio [and containing] one of the most appealingly strange taunts in recent memory",[6] and then goes into a chorus "of scraping power chords that are kind of like a cross between Skrillex and Sophie. It's bizarre, a bit silly, but for the exact same reason, endlessly fascinating."[4] The song also "compares arms to cigarettes, laments inadequate truck size and uses the term 'piss baby' as an insult".[7] DIY described it as a "glitchy electronic-pop banger",[8] and Pitchfork described it as "pulsing [and] cavity-inducing".[6] We Rave You described it as a "bass-heavy [...] headspinner".[9]
Music video
editOn June 13, 2019, an official music video for the song was released.[10] The music video has Brady and Les as "badass rapper-types mugging for the camera" as they step into a parking lot with some "rather large trucks", and distorted by layers of visual effects. According to Paper, "[t]he overall effect exists somewhere between a cybernetic hallucination and a deep fried meme. It's hard to pinpoint what is exactly so damn appealing about the video, but perhaps it's for that exact same reason that it's so damn entertaining."[4]
Reception and legacy
editPitchfork named it the 61st best song of 2019. Sasha Geffen, for the same website, wrote that the song "is a purification ritual for the rotted-out brain, a seething, monstrous prayer to burn the slime away".[11] According to The New York Times, the music video for "Money Machine" helped 100 Gecs get a burst of attention.[12] According to The Boar, they "exploded onto the scene" with the "preposterous" song, which "paved the way for future hyperpop artists who would go on to replicate these distinct features".[13] It was included on Vulture's list of "9 Songs That Wouldn't Exist Without Sophie".[14] The Forty-Five's Sophie Walker named it the third best hyperpop song of all time.[15]
Charts
edit| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[16] | 47 |
References
edit- ^ "money machine - Single by 100 gecs". Music.apple.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
- ^ "Episode 185: 100 Gecs". Song Exploder (Podcast). Event occurs at 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "100 gecs announce remix album, share A. G. Cook remix of "money machine"". The FADER. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ a b c d "You've Never Heard Anything Like 100 Gecs". PAPER. 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "100 Gecs Tests the Limits of Electronic Music and Pop Culture". Study Breaks. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ a b "100 gecs: 1000 gecs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ Connolly, Connor (2021-06-02). "Hyperpop: the newest teen fad or pop music's saviour?". Cherwell. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "Who the fuck are 100 gecs?". diymag.com. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ Dov, Yotam (2020-08-28). "100 Gecs – The weirdest duo in electronic music?". We Rave You. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "100 Gecs bring their track "money machine" to life in a new video". Elevatormag.com. June 17, 2019.
- ^ Pitchfork (9 December 2019). "The 100 Best Songs of 2019". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ Caramanica, Jon (2019-09-04). "The Riotous, Internet-Speed Sound of 100 gecs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "Hyperpop: the infatuated synthesis of self-expression". theboar.org. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ Curto, Justin (2021-02-05). "9 Songs That Wouldn't Exist Without SOPHIE". Vulture. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ Walker, Sophie (2021-02-10). "The 45 best hyperpop songs of all time". The Forty-Five. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
- ^ "100 gecs Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 June 2020.