[FRESH] Death Grips - Hot Head

I wasn't being a cunt about it, but thanks for calling me names. It definitely helped.

kagnit mentioned listening from the beginning might help someone who disliked this track enjoy it more, but going from the beginning with heavy, industrial noise-based music often doesn't do a thing for someone who clearly was outright despising the track. Unfortunately this just isn't a good track anyway, especially not for introducing anyone to the genre, which has some legitimately good artists.


With this particular track, I find it fails on most levels due to it sounding even less well produced than most Death Grips tracks (who I personally dislike as I never found Ride's voice to match up to the usually strong production), with eclectic, overly messy production for the opening minute, with Ride's vocals not sounding attached to the song at all. Once the stronger synth line comes in a bit after a minute, things get even messier, as Ride struggles to keep tempo (while spitting absurdly weak lyrics, to the point of laughability). His voice is not well mixed, which doesn't help the sound of the track at all, and things continue to get messier as the track hits the chorus segment. The awkward tuning on the shorter lines seems to be trying to create a mild melody, but just creates a really difficult to listen to sound as it fails a melody and still can't quite keep tempo with the backing music.

The lyrics don't really do much overall, and are less interesting just to read than most of DG's songs as well. Usually I'll dislike Ride's voice on a track, enjoy the production, and check out the lyrics and be interested in it from a poetry-like side of things, but this time? I'm insanely disappointed. The lyrics don't really go anywhere, just repeating of words, and when he does go for something a bit more unique... they're just pointing back to the title over and over. The story is flimsy at best. When read, they're at least tolerable, but within the track I firmly believe they're among the worst deliveries of a DG track, as mentioned above, there's issues with flow, keeping basic tempo, and delivery, as he becomes beyond unintelligible over and over, with production overwhelming delivery, and then in the calmer sections, Ride slurring words, trailing off, and generally just failing to well... deliver his words.

The production here is also a mixed bag. The opening minute is horrid. Just horrid. An eclectic mash of nothingness that doesn't deliver any ideas or even build into the next segment, but just exists as a tempo-less wall of meaningless noise. It's poorly constructed and poorly delivered. Look at HEALTH's MEN TODAY for an example of how to build a wall of noise while still using it to build to and deliver the next segment of the song. After that wave ends though, the production becomes totally listenable... but boring. A simple drum beat, an overly simple synth line, and some very low key bass doesn't really do anything super interesting, and as I dove into above, Ride's delivery is really not blended into the song well at all. And then the second minute starts, and it all devolves into nothingness again. Heavy, nearly randomized drum lines, synth and bass lines, and Ride shouting, but sounding like he was just standing in a room with a bad echo, while the production at least sounds blended well. Making matters worse is the lack of transition between segments, creating a bad sound and a lack of consistency in the delivery of the song.

I just can't get over how weak Ride is on this song though. Just listening to the last minute and a half is enough to put me off trying to listen to DG, quite frankly. All the stuff I mentioned above about his vocals just kept getting worse, from the bad pitch shifting to his tendency to wander off-tempo, to the poor lyrics.

It's just all really poorly presented, and doesn't make for a good track. The meme game is strong though, so there's that.

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