Paul McCartney famously used the words “scrambled eggs” as scratch lyrics while he was working on a song. He eventually changed them to the less brunchy and more emotionally resonant “Yesterday.” What “Doritos & Fritos” by 100 gecs presupposes is: Maybe he shouldn’t have?
The scuzz-rock, ska-adjacent slammer comes from Dylan Brady and Laura Les’ to-be-announced second album 10000 gecs and marks a fairly sharp turn away from the all-digital hyperpop space the duo previously occupied. But this isn’t a pivot to “real music” nor is it simply an ode to Les Claypool’s slack-stringed bass playing: The guitar harmonics at the beginning are all constellated and manipulated in post-production, and Brady’s inarguably hooky pre-chorus adopts the Auto-Tune that was slathered over their debut album. It’s the same pop songwriting genus, but an entirely different species of 100 gecs, something that takes the bones of ’90s college rock and makes it into ’20s online university rock. “I’m joining the circus and going beserkus,” Brady scowls, soothing your brain with something colossally dumb and fun. Set against music so detailed and poppy, the first-thought/best-thought songwriting hits you like a fistful of processed cheese dust.