ALBUM REVIEW: 3rd Ave - Cyberbully

3rd Ave's long-awaited debut LP, CYBERBULLY, is a testament to the collective's commitment to innovation, eclecticism, and fun.   

Reviewed by Alex "Ash" Han 

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before reading this review, please support 3rd Ave and stream CYBERBULLY on all platforms! You can find the streaming links to the project via 3rd Ave's Linktree.

 

Please also feel free to check out my previous reviews of nickwuh's us against the universe, TypeOh's Seeker, Jaden Tyler's Sadfish, and Thai Thai's TELEVISED SUICIDE! Also available are my reviews of 3rd Ave's previous singles, specifically "Gottem", "how u like", and "ackerman".

 

AUTHOR'S (OTHER) NOTE: An earlier version of this article misattributed Mathias's guitar solo on "LSD" to Jaden. This has now been corrected. 

 

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME since I made my first foray into Music Technology. I was a wide-eyed prospective transfer student coming from the anthropology department at CAS, coming off of an impromptu pandemic-induced gap semester during which I'd seriously considered dropping out of school altogether, emerging into a COVID-stricken eighth floor that was rarely anything other than desolate & deserted. Those initial months in MTech were difficult for me. Going from the massive, sprawling anthropology program to a much smaller community in which I knew no one was hard enough. Add to that the scattered nature of the MTech undergraduate student body during that late-pandemic era, and suddenly I found myself in a landscape in which it was prohibitively difficult to make friends and meet new people. Much of the students I met during those first few classes seemed to be operating on a solitary basis; things were insular and closed, and it seemed to me that most people preferred creating music alone to working collaboratively with those around them. Of course, it was a long time ago, in a social landscape that was vastly more cautious and restrictive than it is currently, but I remember worrying very much that I'd made a mistake transferring into MTech. It didn't seem as open or collaborative as I had hoped back then, and I remember wanting a greater sense of community than I was able to access at the time. I certainly wasn't about to spend $35,000 a year just to make music alone on my laptop. I wanted to meet more people and work with folks and create art I never would have created otherwise, and for a variety of reasons, I did precious little of any of those things for the first stretch of my journey.

I emerged from that first semester a little demoralized, and a little bruised & battered on account of the B– I'd gotten in Analog Electronics (I did blow up an op-amp, but in my defense, I had literally never done anything electronics-related before, so there). Things began to blossom a little more the following semester, when I started taking the first actually music-related courses in MTech. I took CMS with Adam Rokhsar, which was where I worked with Rain Edward for the first time, and where Mel Fisch inspired my initial exploration of hyperpop and drum & bass. I met Chris Sanders in Analog Recording Technology; the two of us would end up taking the stage at MTech Invasion 2.0 a year and a half later. Still, things felt quiet and somewhat isolating; nobody seemed to be really looking to work together, or perhaps I was just looking in the wrong places. Either way, there was a definite paucity of MTech bands and collectives that I wished would be filled. It seemed like an incredible waste of potential for all of the artistic skill on display in this program to go towards solo projects rather than working alongside others to create things one could never make by themselves.

That brings us to last fall, when I started this blog. I did so because I wanted to create a space for people to engage critically with each other's music, and I thought that anonymously offering my own opinions might be a good way to generate discussion. At the time, the blog was very small, so I was relatively desperate for content to review, and I wanted to stay away from reviewing the music of people whom I knew personally in order to avoid being affected by personal bias. Luckily for me, there were a bunch of then-freshmen who brought with them a prolific and sizeable catalog of solo work. This random dude from Chicago named nickwuh was the first to land on my radar; the article I wrote reviewing his hyperpop LP us against the universe was just the fifth album review I wrote on this blog. TypeOh's Seeker, Jaden Tyler's Sadfish, and Thai Thai's TELEVISED SUICIDE all made it into my queue over the subsequent couple of weeks. I found a great many things to enjoy about all four projects, and I spent much of the semester getting acquainted with the artists and their music from behind the comfort of my pseudonym-derived anonymity.*

 

*There's a couple of funny stories resulting from this. I remember meeting Mathias (Thai Thai) and Luke (TypeOh) for the first time on the eighth floor, and trying really hard to act natural given that I knew them already and was a huge fan of their work, but they had no idea who I was at all! About a week or so after that, I almost straight up blew my cover during a Collegium listening session; I was onstage presenting a draft version of "Pathological (Who I Am)", one of my own songs, and Jaden raised their hand to give feedback, and I called on them by name despite never having met them in person before. Oops. Definitely seemed a little sus after that.

 

 

Pictured above: The members of 3rd Ave, pictured here during the original MTech Invasion last spring. From left to right: Suzie Sanford, nickwuh, Jaden Tyler, Anshoo Saha, TypeOh, Thai Thai, Milk Duds.
 

When the announcement came that these four, along with Suzie Sanford and Anshoo Saha, had formed a band together, I was really excited. The new group was called 3rd Ave, and the release of their debut single, "Gottem", felt like a big event. People were hyped, myself included, and the consensus seemed to be that it was just really cool to see all of these artists come together and make new music. For me, 3rd Ave felt like the first post-pandemic breath of life into MTech. Watching them come together was like seeing the first green shoots sprouting after a forest fire. For the first time in a long, long time, people were putting their heads together and pushing each other to new heights. I've eagerly followed the group's trajectory all the way from "Gottem" at the beginning of this year to the subject of today's article: CYBERBULLY, their full-length debut album. It's been a long road getting to this point, and there's certainly been a lot of anticipation leading up to this release, especially considering 3rd Ave's prolific run of pre-album singles—"ackerman" broke 100,000 streams on Spotify not too long ago! Going into this album, I was anxious to see how 3rd Ave's existing strengths would carry through this new project, and whether or not they'd make any daring new decisions to push towards a new sound for the group.

 

Pictured above: 3rd Ave performing "CYBERBULLY", then titled "Woppy", at the original MTech Invasion on April 13th, 2023. From left to right: Jaden Tyler, TypeOh, Thai Thai, nickwuh, & Anshoo. Photography by Alex Ehasz.
 

The album opens with the title track, "CYBERBULLY", which begins with the swelling, cinematic synth intro 3rd Ave customarily uses to open their shows, beginning as a quiet drone before rising to a gale-force howl.* The epic swell concludes with a sudden drop into silence and a flip of a sample from the Bleach soundtrack, setting the stage with a dark industrial backdrop ornamented with slamming, distorted bass and dusty, digital crunk drums. Thai Thai kicks off the performances with a bang, spitting an agile hook with plenty of braggadocious spirit. His rapid sixteenth-note flows whiz by like a boxer's fists, highlighting his athletic rhythmic chops and raw, confident vocal delivery. He sounds hungry here, eager to prove 3rd Ave's tenacity & grit, which is a good note on which to open the album. His verse pulls back a little, dropping into a bellicose triplet flow that finds a really nice pocket. TypeOh's aggressive second verse follows shortly thereafter, his lean, taut delivery making for a nice contrast with Thai Thai's more textured vocals. The two trade lines back and forth near the end of the song, which I thought was a really cool moment that served as an effective introduction to the relationship between the two rappers. Opening the LP like this, with what amounts to a duo piece between TypeOh and Thai Thai, was certainly an interesting decision, but I actually really like it given that these two anchor much of the record. It's a compelling intro track that gives us a peek at two of our main characters, while also serving as a tantalizing preview that doesn't reveal too much.

*Listening to it for the first time, it felt weird to hear the intro to this track without Anshoo screaming "MAKE SOME FUCKING NOISE" over the top. I suppose I've seen it live one too many times lmao

The second track, "ALASKA", kicks off with a sparse synth line that almost sounds like it could have popped out of an early-2010s Pitbull track. The Europop influences that poke through the surface in the two-voice sawtooth harmony make for an interesting blend with the track's bouncy Southern trap instrumental. TypeOh's first verse is an excellent lead-in, as his flow begins as a relatively sparse staccato affair before gradually speeding up faster and faster until it reaches peak intensity right at its end. It's here that I hear the trademark "Luke's dorm" vocal sound for the first time, as the lead vocals bear some weird proximity effects and squelchy mouth noises that come through a little too much, but it's nothing too distracting. Anshoo makes a surprise appearance here, delivering a high sung chorus that sounds unexpectedly angelic. The melody is insanely catchy and gives him a chance to show off his excellent singing voice, augmented with some tasteful Autotune that elevates his already-great performance to the next level. Thai Thai takes the next verse, coming in with his trademark breezy triplet flow before we return back to the hook. Even with two choruses, it feels a little too short to me; on first listen, I remember being really annoyed that the track didn't keep going! Anshoo's work crafting a hook here was truly exquisite, as he successfully managed to put together a chorus I just want to keep replaying over and over. I love the track’s embrace of pop aesthetics in its presentation, especially its supremely hooky nature; this ranks as one of 3rd Ave’s best choruses ever, and its straightforward approach to pop rap cements it as one of my favorites on the album.

 

Pictured above: TypeOh (center) daps up Anshoo (right) from the crowd while nickwuh (left) delivers vocals at MTech Invasion 2.0 on November 17th, 2023. Photograph by Steven Pisano.
 

"FREAK" brings a guest verse from MACK, one of Jaden Tyler's old collaborators from high school. MACK’s opening verse flows over a drum pattern that reads like a modern spin on Miami bass, with flurries of rapid-fire hi-hats, distant siren-like synth leads, and smooth 808s evoking comparisons to Rico Nasty and 112; this is as quintessential Jaden Tyler production as you're going to find anywhere on the album. MACK's flow is nimble yet nonchalant, striking a nice balance somewhere in the middle that lends him a certain flippant, easygoing confidence. The back-and-forth interplay between Jaden’s stereoized backing vocals and MACK’s lead vocals coming down the center works really nicely. After a short drum ornamented by little conga runs and fun percussion loops, Jaden’s middle verse maximizes the comedic potential of their deadpan delivery. Thai Thai’s third verse is a bit more mixed for me—I'm not a huge fan of the more nasally delivery on this one. However, TypeOh’s closing verse flows really well over a loosely old-school beat like this, calling back to his "Gottem" flow for a second, name-dropping Andrew Luck in a verse that references his Bay Area roots. This track was a bit of a sleeper for me; I wasn't a huge fan of it on first listen, but MACK's verse has grown on me a lot in the time since, and the overall fun-loving vibe of the track is a nice break from the darker & smoother cuts on either side of it in the tracklist.

On "HIEROGLYPHS", rage drums and thick 808s provide a relentless driving pulse underneath a muted, chantlike synth lead. Thai Thai’s slightly distorted vocal processing and more low-down vocal delivery on this one works really well with the track’s edgier vibe. While not his most larger-than-life moment on the album, in retrospect, this might be one of my favorite verses from Mathias on the LP. Anshoo's smooth Autotuned hook channels Gunna in a big way, which is an interesting cross-section I really like. TypeOh's verse fits well, but I'm less of a fan of the distortion when it's on Luke's voice rather than Mathias's; it seems to give Luke some slightly weird frequency content in the upper mid frequency range. Like its predecessor, "ALASKA", this track definitely feels a little too short to me—which I suppose only means it's ripe for a future remix!

 

Pictured above: 3rd Ave performing "BOP IT" at Invasion 2.0. From left to right: nickwuh, Jaden Tyler, Anshoo, Jaden Tyler. Photograph by Steven Pisano.
 

"BOP IT" saw a release a few weeks ago as one of the lead singles from CYBERBULLY. Admittedly, I missed this one when it first came out, but in the context of the full album it's really grown on me. nickwuh’s kinda hilarious take on bouncy Jaden-like synth rap works really well, giving TypeOh a slinky foundation for him to flow over in a cross-section that again calls back to “Gottem”. Jaden’s appearance here is one of my favorite performances on the whole album, bringing a supremely catchy chorus with a super fun flow; their verse is also loaded a bunch of hilarious punchlines ("I'm doing laundry all the time 'cause I can't keep my sheets clean", "Donald Trump starting five, I'm on his basketball team/I'm shootin' bricks to build a wall, but still got racks in my jeans", and "Never catch a felony, I'm Mr. Misdemeanor" being some of my favorites) that cements them as an excellent wild-card addition. The pacing of this track is one of its strongest points, with Jaden’s wild card middle verse bookended by TypeOh and Thai Thai’s more straightforward approaches. Speaking of Thai Thai, he definitely has a good amount of fun with his verse, playing with his inflection and delivery to switch it up and give his performance a little more spicy variation. Jaden's hook returns one more time at the end, supported by some pitched-down doubles. This track is another one that was a big sleeper for me, and it's definitely unique amongst the other cuts on the album in its at-once retro and modern dance-rap vibe.

The second of two guest appearances on the album, "TAMAGOTCHI" features River Hooks, marking the album’s shift into a heavier hyperpop slant. The track opens with an agile hook, performed by River; her nimble flow switches and thick, luscious harmonies instantly set the vibe of the track as being both chilled out and frantically energetic simultaneously, which is an interesting blend that somehow works really well. The frenetic synth arpeggiators and flickering drums communicate a ton of astral, feverish energy that synergizes really well with TypeOh’s really nice melodic verse. TypeOh brings a bunch of great melodies throughout his verse, merging his lithe & quick-footed rap flow with his penchant for catchy sung alternative rock melodies, last visible on Seeker. Anshoo’s more lowkey approach during his own verse also works really well to steadily ramp up the energy as the flow picks up speed. Eventually, we drop into nickwuh’s verse section, which is amazing and is a huge high point for me. This verse marks the first time he takes the spotlight on the album; the wait was well worth it, as he brings some beautiful tenor passages that lend the song a really incredible emotional climax. His lyrics deal with regret and existentialism, as he sings about having to "…pretend I'm a grown-ass man when I don't know what the fuck I'm doing", and "using anxiety as an excuse" to "suffocate" a past love interest; the steadily-climbing melody and growing harmony texture do a lot to make this verse feel like a true soul-baring confessional. He also brings some stunning high notes in an impassioned lead vocal performance that helps cast him as 3rd Ave's emotional core, an unguarded heart that languishes hidden behind TypeOh's bluster and Thai Thai's swagger. "TAMAGOTCHI" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and its cross-section between headbanger hyperpop and genuine vulnerability makes it one of my favorite things 3rd Ave has ever done.

 

Pictured above: Mathias Quilon (center), also known as Thai Thai, one of the centerpieces on "HOLD MY HAND // PIECES", pictured here at Invasion 2.0. From left to right: Jaden Tyler, Thai Thai, nickwuh, TypeOh. Photograph by Steven Pisano.
 

"HOLD MY HAND // PIECES" is a two-parter track that slows things down a little. Opening with a woozy, trem-heavy guitar line and tender vocals from Thai Thai, this piece calls back to Thai’s folk-inspired work on wait for me, stranger, and in many ways feels like his resident magnum opus on the album. He very much feels like the centerpiece of this track, delivering heartbroken couplets from behind a veil of airy pads and melancholic vinyl crackle. Following Thai's verse, there's a brief section where TypeOh and nickwuh trade lines back and forth—not a huge fan of the hard panning here, nor the slightly abrupt pop-ins on some of the lines, but the vocal performances are really strong and sell the emotional content really well. From there, the track hits a tempo speedup, bringing in a drum & bass breakbeat as TypeOh begins to spit, once again merging pop rock melody with his rapid-fire flow. Eventually, we hit a massive drop outlined by formant-shifted vocals and huge saw chords over a distorted trap beat in a moment that feels very much like classic nickwuh. I think the mix here suffers a little; the different elements feel like they crash together, and there's not a ton of space left for the listener to breathe here. Still, the sung melody here is catchy, and the formant shifting is really cool. The slowdown & reversal of the guitar parts, plus the switch into a new key that leads us into the "PIECES" half of the track, comes a bit out of left field, and felt a bit sudden to me. We're not left with a lot of time to absorb the new soundscape, as a downtempo moody trap beat comes crashing in as Thai Thai brings a Kid LAROI-esque half-screamed half-sung emo trap hook. I don’t love the aesthetic, but Thai’s vocal performance is really cool, and it’s nice to see him combine his tender singing voice with his screamed, raw delivery from some TELEVISED SUICIDE-era tracks. nickwuh and TypeOh both contribute sung verses, buoyed by distant harmonies and the occasional beat cut. The koto break at the end of the song is a really nice touch, with Thai’s subdued background vocals taking us out. I'm not the biggest fan of this track, but I do think that the artistic vision here was really ambitious, and I'd love for 3rd Ave to try more genre-bending long-form experimental tracks like this in the future!

"FACETIME", chronologically the first track the members of 3rd Ave worked on together, began as a TypeOh solo track before growing out into a 3rd Ave affair. A synth-heavy rage-rap banger that combines the poppy, hooky ethos of “ALASKA” with the rage aesthetic of Ken Carson and Trippie Redd, “FACETIME” ended the year in the number 5 spot on my Spotify Wrapped. TypeOh's hook is wickedly catchy, supported by lush, textured synth pads and economical trap drums. TypeOh and Thai Thai trade melodic verses that see both of them exploring new territory; both come up with some really catchy lines along the way and sound great overall. The track does feel a little short, and perhaps a bit less involved than many of the other tracks here, but I suppose that as the first 3rd Ave song ever, it's understandable for it to feel a bit less fleshed-out than some of the newer tracks. Still, the track is no less catchy for it, and nails the pop rap/rage crossover very well.

Atonal, outlined with various blips and beeps and mechanical sound effects, “???” is one of the most forceful tracks on the whole album. Distorted and angry, Thai Thai's first verse feels like "CUT UP" Part 2, as he brings an ultra-aggressive delivery. Thai’s lines are kinda hilarious (“I got an emo bitch, she like to kill herself” and "Walk in the room and the pussy get Gucci/I ain't bilingual, I only speak coochie" are the two that come to mind the most). TypeOh brings a similarly strong performance, though his voice seems to get swallowed by the bass on occasion. The mix on this track is another minor point of contention, as it feels to me like there's a lot of high mid stuff going on that can tend to take away space from the vocals. Either way, though, there's plenty here to focus on, and the track is a perfectly good bar track for its two minutes of runtime.

 

Pictured above: Jaden Tyler's chaotic-neutral energy, pictured here at the CYBERBULLY release party on December 1st, 2023, at Highside Workshop in Bushwick. Also visible is nickwuh staying hydrated in the back. Photograph by me.
 

"ECSTASY" feels like another experiment with rage, embracing a sound palette that reads like an ethereal crossover between the works of Playboi Carti and arkangel, with distant leads and airy synth pads creating a floaty, somewhat metallic vibe. The presentation of the chorus on this one is a little… weird, and I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the way the subject matter is depicted. nickwuh's second verse also feels like it takes away some momentum from the progression of the track to me. Still, the sound design on the track is really nice, and I really like the densely-packed, thickly-textured beat on this one. The moment when everything except the drums drops out to start off TypeOh's verse is really cool. The following chorus seems to lose a lot of the mix, as much of it disappears into these huge synth pads that enter around that point. The outro makes up for it, though, as Jaden Tyler busts out an absolutely sick synth/guitar solo that employs some really nice bends and ornaments. I'd wished for some time that Jaden would make more use of his guitar skills on 3rd Ave's songs, and I suppose this song delivered on that front at least! While I wasn't a huge fan of some of the decisions that were made on this track, the overall framework of "ECSTASY" is very strong, and I very much like the soundscape and texture the members of 3rd Ave were able to achieve here.

 

On "'05 ACCORD", a warped chordal sample takes us into a sparse drum pattern accompanied by occasional orchestral hits and reversed swells. TypeOh’s delivery is really nice on this one, while Jaden’s lackadaisical flow makes for an interesting transition that goes across rather well. “I get to the green like a motherfuckin’ Shrek/Money so big like an ogre” is hilarious and might be the funniest line on the album. I think Jaden's slower eighth note flow on this track might be part of the reason why the zingers hit so hard; the slower flow allows a lot of time for the listener to gravitate towards his lyrics and punchlines, which are both as good as ever this time around. Jaden's verse is super fun and transitions into Thai Thai's breakneck flow in a really nice way. The contrast between TypeOh, Jaden, and Thai Thai is managed particularly well on this track, and the pacing gives everyone just enough space to do what they do without ever wearing out their welcome or growing stale.

"LSD" is a 100 gecs/underscores-flavored pop punk/hyperpop crossover track buoyed by heavy guitars. TypeOh takes the first verse, and he sounds fucking great over this pop punk vibe. His vocal melodies are consistently excellent, and his performance makes for a surprisingly natural fit over the chugging power chords and cut time, uptempo drums. Thai Thai takes the hook, bringing a tender rendition of the singable chorus melody; his performance here is genuinely amazing and ranks as one of my favorite performances of his on the album. The backing vocals also do an excellent job translating Thai's performance to a larger-than-life scale; he sounds truly titanic, which works really well for this track. nickwuh’s verse feels very us against the universe to me, taking full advantage of his soaring tenor range. Thai's guitar solo in the middle section also absolutely rips (Dear Mathias: please play more guitar). I really admire the restraint exhibited by the group insofar as not giving the track's chorus to Nick, which seems like the obvious choice given his pop punk tenor voice. Instead, Thai takes the hook for much of the song. We get to hear Nick sing the hook eventually, but the group makes us wait until the very end, which I thought was a great choice. Finally hearing nickwuh and Thai Thai sing the chorus in harmony with each other was a great emotional climax on the back end of this record. I'm a huge fan of the production on this one, and I really enjoy 3rd Ave’s forays into pop rock. I can only hope that they decide to do more songs like this in the future!

 

Pictured above: "JAE CROWDER" goes crazy in a live setting, seen here at the CYBERBULLY release party. Photograph by me.
 

An ethereal, heavenly flute & piano sample opens "JAE CROWDER", before suddenly switching key and veering into a super dark, menacing trap instrumental. The intro switchup goes insanely hard and might be one of my favorite curveball moments on the album. TypeOh’s relentless hook goes crazy, with a driving staccato forcefulness that feels like he's pummeling a punching bag, and is a standout moment for him on the LP. Thai’s opening verse is a really nice change of pace for him, as he breaks into an Autotuned falsetto. He sounds smooth as hell, and makes a great vibe switch from his usual rapped delivery, as he channels Anshoo's characteristically slick, controlled style for a second. (I actually mistook this verse for being one of Anshoo's on first listen, which speaks to how well Mathias adopted this style!) Jaden’s verse is also amazing; the “red paint/blue paint” line is hilarious, and Jaden's deadpan manages to sound properly menacing on this track, which goes really well with Thai and TypeOh's vibe. I do think the mix isn't perfect—Thai and Jaden both sound ever so slightly canned, and there is a bit too much mouth noise, especially in Jaden's vocals. Still, "JAE CROWDER" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and in my personal opinion, it's the hardest "bar track" on the album. Its strategic usage of Luke, Mathias, and Jaden makes it feel like a fully-realized version of the "ackerman" lineup, employed in a way that fits them together perfectly.

The album’s last track, "MAWILE", drops us straight into a tender nickwuh hook. With co-production from nickwuh and Charlie, the elusive seventh member of 3rd Ave, this track leans into a soft indie hyperpop/Midwest emo vibe that feels like a true embracing of everything that makes 3rd Ave great. The guitars do some really cool tapped open-tuning riffs articulating a very pretty chord progression that also uses one of my personal favorite music theory tricks (namely, the minor iv chord in a major key! Try it, it sounds fucking great). The entrance of a bass guitar and some additional harmonies on top solidify the sensation of building to a peak, as filtered drums ratchet up the energy. The chorus hits with a wall of guitars, huge acoustic drums, and formant-shifted vocals for the hook. The hook itself is insanely catchy, incorporating bits of the melody of "HOLD MY HAND", which I thought made for a nice callback. We drop down a little into a sonic landscape carried by organic acoustic guitars and some really beautiful sung vocals from TypeOh, who turns in an achingly heartfelt performance for this middle section that proves his prowess as a vocalist. A fakeout buildup sets up another chorus, but instead drops us into a richly-layered bridge sung by Thai Thai over a J-pop-esque piano part. The second drop, when it does hit, sounds absolutely massive, with guitars and bass and synth pads and arpeggiators coalescing into a gigantic wall. Thai also completely sells the emotion of this part of the track, singing some beautiful passages; I also love his lyric of "sticks and stones/Will build a home", which I thought was a touching way to end off the bridge. The last hook is absolutely titanic, with every single member of 3rd Ave (minus Jaden) contributing to a huge chorus of voices that all melt together into one colossal texture. Even Charlie makes a cameo appearance, as he sings the last few lines of the song before we drop down and out. Ending on this track was an interesting choice—it's probably the most pop 3rd Ave has ever gotten, but as an emotional vehicle, the song is unassailable, and works remarkably well as an earnest closing statement from the band's members. All of them turn in some of their best vocals on the whole album, and Charlie and Nick's production sounds beautiful. Part of me wishes it were easier to pick out the voices of the individual members in the ending harmonies, but even so, that's a relatively pedantic nitpick, and the overall result is still wonderfully heartfelt and captures something intangible about youth in a really beautiful way.

 

Pictured above: Jaden Tyler (left) and nickwuh (right) performing together at the CYBERBULLY release party.
 

CYBERBULLY, as a body of work, makes for a uniquely compelling showcase of what makes 3rd Ave great. The LP's production ranges from the simple, hard-hitting bounce of songs like "ALASKA" and "JAE CROWDER" to the heady, blippy maximalism of "LSD" and "HOLD MY HAND // PIECES". Each and every member of 3rd Ave turns in a string of inspired performances, culminating in a consistently strong body of verses and hooks rife with inspired flow switches and catchy melodic shapes. Everyone gets a chance to shine on this album, and the album is loaded with some all-time great performances—Anshoo’s buttery-smooth hook on “ALASKA”, Jaden’s tongue-in-cheek middle verse on “BOP IT”, nickwuh’s angelic bridge on “TAMAGOTCHI”, TypeOh’s forceful uppercut of a chorus on “JAE CROWDER”, Thai Thai’s surprisingly sweet hook on “LSD”… even Suzie’s backing vocals on “MAWILE” are a really nice touch. Most of the members have never sounded better than on this record, with all five main vocalists delivering confident raps and soft, tender singing in equal measure. Special shoutout goes to Luke here, whose singing performances were a consistent pleasant surprise. Anshoo also gets a nod from me, as he unveils his unexpectedly effortless singing voice to great effect on "ALASKA" and "HIEROGLYPHS". I really admire everyone's commitment to versatility in their vocal performances, and hope that they continue to push themselves and try and get new and interesting sounds out of their voices from here forward.

 

 

Pictured above: "DOWN, ONE… DOWN, TWO!" Photograph by Steven Pisano.
 

The album is also quite representative, showcasing stylistic bits & pieces from each of the individual members' solo discographies on the way—perhaps most notably the lean & mean, forceful, bounce-heavy, battle rap-flavored bluster of TypeOh's Seeker, sonic characteristics which appear in spades across CYBERBULLY's tracklist. The colorful, sweeping grandiosity of nickwuh's us against the universe also makes for a visible presence on this record, with Nick's trademark thickly-layered VST synth sounds, emotive melodic sensibilities, and texture-based mixing philosophy coming to prominence on tracks like "TAMAGOTCHI" and "MAWILE". While those two albums are probably the biggest contributors to the final sound of CYBERBULLY, the clever, tongue-in-cheek, wry humor & lighthearted spirit of Jaden Tyler's Sadfish is a key component of tracks such as "BOP IT" and "FREAK". "HOLD MY HAND // PIECES" and "LSD" call back to Thai Thai's acoustic folk-flavored wait for me, stranger EP from earlier this year, and even his TELEVISED SUICIDE-era screamed-raw vocal delivery makes a cameo appearance on the hook of "PIECES"! In this way, the album does manage to be something more than the sum of a bunch of solo projects; it manages to find the crossover points at which all of its members' styles intersect, and create art that lives within that space and pushes its members to new heights.

 

Pictured above: Jaden Tyler, 3rd Ave's resident comedian, performing at MTech Invasion 2.0. Photograph by Steven Pisano.
 

However, once I'd had a couple full listens through the album, I did start to realize that CYBERBULLY… has a bit of an identity crisis. There are points at which I felt like the album was unsure on how to present its mood, or realize the tone it was going for. I think part of this has to do with the album's sense of humor, or lack thereof; it seems to go back and forth as to how hard it wants to commit to being funny. Jaden's off-the-wall punchlines and deadpan delivery are probably the funniest aspect of this record, and I generally think their contributions are well-integrated and usually make for a nice, middle-verse vibe switch. This album is loaded with hilarious lines, some of which I've noted above, and the existence of those lines definitely positively factors into my overall enjoyment of the album. On the other hand, though, there are just as many lines that seem like they're supposed to be funny, but for whatever reason, aren't presented in a way that makes their humorous intent obvious. For example—"I got an emo bitch, she like to kill herself" is an outrageously funny line, but the aggressive vocal delivery and the dark instrumental of "???", the track on which it appears, completely siphons all of the humor out of it. A similar thing happens with the chorus on "ECSTASY", where the lyrics detail sex in a way that's so over-the-top and gratuitous that it could have been really funny if presented differently. Moments like these tend to get robbed of their humor and just sorta end up being head-scratchers, and I, as a listener, get pulled out of the experience while I wonder as to whether or not that line was supposed to be a joke or not. Luke's confident bravado, Anshoo's robotic panache, and Mathias's breezy nonchalance tend to come across in a way that belies Jaden's comical zaniness and Nick's earnest vulnerability, creating a certain narrative split between the different members. I sometimes feel as though I'm being pulled in a new emotional direction every time a new verse comes on! What I will say is that I've seen all of these songs performed live, and in a live setting, all the lyrics kinda just whiz by; in that space, the energy is what matters more than anything, and I never really picked up on these little idiosyncrasies. In fact, if I were judging this album strictly off of how well it works as a live performance, then it would be just about perfect (the album release show was lit as fuck). But listening to the songs on streaming, in a sit-down setting, wearing headphones, with a little more space to focus in on the lyrics, it starts to be evident that the album can sometimes struggle with how to present its subject matter. 

 

The aforementioned was just one facet of a few things that led me to feeling disappointed by this album, especially in the first couple days after its release. Part of me felt like the 3rd Ave formula I'd grown to know & love during the group's prolific string of pre-album singles had perhaps grown a little stale. Another part of me felt as though songs like "HIEROGLYPHS" and "FREAK" retreaded the groundwork of "ackerman" and "Gottem" a little too closely, while songs like "HOLD MY HAND // PIECES" and "???" strayed a little too far from 3rd Ave's established strengths. Yet another part of me wished we'd gotten more Anshoo, whose occasional killer verses and choruses dotted throughout the album really just made me want more. Still another part of me wanted to give this album a zero out of 10 on the sole basis of the fact that we never got the long-awaited Suzie verse I've been waiting a whole year for. In light of all of this, I had to reach the conclusion that perhaps I wasn't being entirely fair to this album. Coming off of the past year and a half, during which I've been a huge fan of not only 3rd Ave, but also all of its members, I've been itching to hear this debut, and my standards for it were definitely really high. It's tough to take a group with as many myriad strengths as 3rd Ave, and feature all of those diverse strengths in a single body of work. Especially in a collective as large as this one, any body of work is, by nature, a compromise. In this regard, the album is a largely successful one, even though at least a couple things out of the million things I wanted this album to do fell by the wayside in the process.

 

 

Pictured above: Thai Thai (left), Jaden Tyler (center), and TypeOh (right) performing at MTech Invasion 2.0. Photograph by Steven Pisano.
 

Perhaps CYBERBULLY is one of those situations where the answer is never quite as tantalizing as the question—in this case, the question being just what 3rd Ave were actually gonna sound like when their long-awaited debut finally arrived. Now, with the album finally firmly lodged in our brains, we can assess what the album does well. This album embodies fun as a concept better than almost anything else I can think of. Everything about it is wild and hedonistic, and its energy is genuinely infectious. When TypeOh is spitting, Anshoo is gliding over the beat, and nickwuh is singing his heart out, the emotional effect is truly something to behold, and the moments where this album works… simply work. The vibes are off the charts, the energy is immaculate, and the hip hop bangers on this album cement themselves as prime dancefloor rave material for a variety of social functions. Aside from those uptempo moments, the album boasts plenty of real emotional weight, and its moments of soul-searching and contemplation are honest and heartfelt. "MAWILE" is probably the clearest example of this, but "LSD" and "HOLD MY HAND // PIECES" also provide plenty of emotional insight into the members of 3rd Ave that listeners can latch onto and relate to. Managing that dichotomy between 1) being invincible, shit-talking battle rappers who are levels above normal people problems and 2) being real, vulnerable, relatable humans is a hard task for anyone, but CYBERBULLY manages that split very well, and that in itself is admirable.

 

That's not even scratching the surface of what 3rd Ave represents as a symbol, a clean summation of all of the things I've grown to love about our little community. As always, the group remains resolutely committed to the pursuit of good sounds, and aren't afraid to take a few risks to get there. Mathias's contributions stuck out to me especially here—his adoption of Anshoo's glassy Autotuned sound on "JAE CROWDER", his tender rendition of the pop punk chorus on "LSD", even his long-form through-composed songwriting on "HOLD MY HAND // PIECES" all stick out as being good little experiments where he pushes himself outside of his comfort zone, often to great effect. It's clear that the group isn't scared to experiment, to grow and evolve, to push the boundaries of people's expectations as to what music they're allowed to make, and to have fun while doing it. And on the eighth floor, and to me, they're a shining example of all that's possible in our program, and the great things we can achieve when we put our heads together. In that regard, CYBERBULLY is a smashing success, and is an album I'll likely be listening to for a long, long time. Wherever 3rd Ave goes next, I am certain they'll continue to push the boundaries and create art that inspires both myself and many others, just like they've always done.      

 

Personal enjoyment score: 8.5 out of 10

 

Standout tracks: "ALASKA", "HIEROGLYPHS", "BOP IT", "TAMAGOTCHI (feat. RIVER HOOKS)", "LSD", "JAE CROWDER", "MAWILE"

 

 

Pictured above: Mathias's Invasion 2.0-era replacement for his iconic Milk Duds. Photo by Kat Yeaton. If you scrolled this far, thank you!

ALBUM REVIEW: P.H.0 - Karma

P.H.0's full-length debut, Karma, combines cyber-synthwave, black metal, drum & bass, and East Asian traditional music into a head-spinning, reality-warping fusion.

Reviewed by Alex "Ash" Han

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before reading this review, be sure to stream Karma via P.H.0's Linktree page!

 

FEW THINGS ARE AS EXCITING as an LP which fully commits itself to breaking genre barriers and challenging our preconceived notions of how to categorize music. In this regard, it's hard to think of a more striking example than P.H.0's debut album Karma, released at the tail end of last month. Though this album rollout took place at a bit of an inopportune time for me—mainly because I was getting steamrolled by a particularly brutal final exam period at the time—Karma has soundtracked much of the last three weeks for me, mostly on account of its insane depth and level of commitment to its crossgenre spirit. For me, this is an album which seems to throw me something new every time I put it on, with a seemingly-bottomless repository of details that speak to the amount of love & care that went into this thing.

Borne out of the collision of talents between five alumni of the MTech graduate program—producer Howard "Sen" Ouyang, drummer Pierre Zheyu Pi, guitarist Jun Guo, erhuist Danting "Chi-Chi" Qiao, and modular synth artist Minghim Tong—the eclecticism that defines P.H.0's work is evident just from the lineup. My first taste of P.H.0 came in the form of "Ascension", the lead single from Karma, which showcased an epic, larger-than-life collision between Mongolian morin khuur music, black metal, and breakcore. That song showcased a number of really compelling crossover points between the various artists in P.H.0's lineup, as "Ascension" threw us a ton of moments wherein everyone just seemed to click, their synergy propelling the song forward with an infectious and relentless sense of momentum. In short, hearing a lead single as interesting and driven as "Ascension" really got my hopes up going into Karma, and I found myself hoping that the whole LP would build on the wild eclecticism and impeccable pacing of their prior material. Suffice it to say that that expectation was definitively met, as Karma proved to be nothing less than a rollercoaster ride of mind-boggling proportions, pulling from a world's worth of different sounds to create a very compelling showcase of the artistic identity that makes P.H.0 who they are.

"To say Karma is a meticulously planned project is an absolute exaggeration, as it was initially intended to be an EP but quickly grew into a full-length album because we are an indecisive bunch with a strong tendency toward perfectionism, which can be excessively fastidious at times. However, despite resulting in a very intensive production and engineering process, that insistence on perfectionism is what made us very proud of the end product, and we are finally able to share with you our debut album: Karma." –Howard Ouyang a.k.a. Sen

 

The LP opens with "Vanity", featuring a distant East Asian traditional sample replete with pentatonic woodwind melodies and tangu drumbeats before crashing into a black metal breakdown anchored in heavy guitars and huge acoustic drums. The momentum of the pounding drums lends the LP a very real sense of urgency and energy from the track's opening seconds, blasting out of the gates with a great degree of fanfare. Pierre and Jun combine to make for a very compelling introduction to the universe of P.H.0, combining hard-hitting drumming with thick, distorted metal riffs that jacks the energy up to 11. Minghim also makes an early appearance here, contributing little synthesizer notes and sound effects that flicker in and out of each ear, which add a nice bit of diversification to the rhythmic soundscape provided by Pierre's drums. Before long, we hit a huge curveball of a sudden tempo slowdown that seems ripe for headbanging, giving Minghim's wailing background synth textures and Jun's heavy guitar a moment to shine. Soon after, though, the tempo speeds back up to normal, and Jun throws us some clean arpeggiated guitar picking over tangu drums; Chi-Chi's erhu makes its first appearance here, its weeping, singsong timbre making for an excellent break from the heavy metal wall of sound textures that defined the track's first half. Chi-Chi's erhu playing is truly beautiful, lending the track a really nice expressive and contemplative edge that serves as a nice contrast with the track's more aggressive metal leanings. Chi-Chi maintains her posture as the lead performer throughout this second leg of the track, even as the background synths begin to swell and we collapse into a section backed by electronic drums and sidechained synth bass, serving as a detour into a sort of listing, darkwave-esque groove. I thought the sidechaining of Jun's distorted chords to the kick drum was really well done here, and gave this section a really nice sort of hybrid synthwave/metal vibe I really enjoyed. In short, "Vanity" feels excellent in terms of its pacing; no one section drags for too long, and the arrangement choices made in taking us from metal to erhu soloing to synthwave feel earned and natural. The journey-like experience of this track is excellent, and it does a wonderful job at capturing a meandering, winding path through many different musical territories that sets up the ground we're to cover in the rest of the LP very well.

"…the opening track 'Vanity' started over a year ago, even before the band was formed, as Howard’s experiment with the goal of integrating Beiguan, a traditional form of music that originated in northern Taiwan in the 17th century, with laser-like guitar riffs that aim to imitate the atonality and the articulation of the suona, a traditional Chinese wind instrument commonly used in Beiguan… Jun, bringing his post-rock influences, added an ambient guitar section filled with reverb washes, which inspired Howard to add an erhu solo on top of it as well as Pierre to follow up the post-rock section with a synthwave breakdown combined with Djent-like, palm-muted riffs and a lead part played with a real suona by our friend Tong, a professional Chinese flute and suona player based here in the city. What was originally a straightforward, mosh pit-friendly experimental metal track became an amalgamation of our musical experiences spanning across progressive metal, post-rock, synthwave, and traditional Chinese folk music." –Howard Ouyang a.k.a. Sen

The LP's second track, "Shin (feat. Her Dark Heaven)", opens on a heavy, cinematic sweeping pad sound punctuated by little synth notes here and there. A distant vocal sample soon layers over the soundscape, asking, "where's the substance, the substance of the soul?", which I thought made for a nice meditative vibe. Jun plays a clean, Metallica-esque riff over a heavy, harmonically rich synthwave sub bass as the slowly-building synth arps and touches of Chi-Chi's faraway, reverb-soaked erhu build tension in the back. The track reads like something of an interlude to me, and though I'm not normally a fan of interludes appearing this early in the tracklist, the swell into the subsequent track "Yè" is amazing and works really well as a buildup within the context of the greater project's pacing.

"My life is split into two parts: during the day, I follow the rules, working along the L train between Bushwick and Chinatown. I present myself as the ideal image that my parents, who believe in the Chinese Communist dream, prefer. Every day, they remind me about my life in America—on the other side of the Earth—which they both hate and miss deeply.
At night, I tear off my stockings and immerse myself in the horror of the darkness, enjoying the collective nightmare of a surreal and bizarre humanity, as if the rules and suffering of the daytime no longer exist. I no longer remember how I clutched my visa and struggled to survive on this land, forgetting how people reminded me that different faces and voices were my sins.
At this moment, my music is my scream, it is the only language I have in my panic. It represents me, if you listen." –Danting Qiao a.k.a. Chi-Chi

Jun's riff from "Shin" continues and grows into "Yè (feat. Her Dark Heaven)", the third track on Karma. Heavy metal chugs punctuate the soundscape between shredded melodic passages on electric guitar, loosely echoed by Minghim's screaming synth textures in the background. Distant, almost-androgynous, light vocals enter during the verse, bringing a plaintive timbre alongside octave doubling and supremely catchy, soaring melodies. Vocalist Jack Doyle's vocal performance on the track is awesome, bringing a somewhat disaffected, numb-sounding emotional texture that nonetheless conveys a great deal of pathos, reminding me a bit of Julian Casablancas in the process. Amidst this titanic vocal chorus, we catch little atmospheric washes of erhu and occasional clean guitar chords poking through the soundscape, which I thought made for a really nice touch. The middle section brings a come-down moment where Jun's melodic guitar gradually builds layers on top of itself in polyphonic harmony before pulling back slightly to make room for Minghim's textural synth touches. The whole band feels utterly locked in on this track in particular, with each member seamlessly coming to the forefront at select moments and passing the spotlight around; Jun and Chi-Chi have excellent interplay as the two predominantly "lead" performers, if you will, backed by Minghim, Howard, and Pierre in equal measure. Nevertheless, the soundscape never threatens to overwhelm Jack, whose lead vocals anchor the track and provide a nice sense of pathos to play off of Chi-Chi's expressive erhu playing. In short, I thought the pacing of this track was particularly excellent, and the interplay between each member of P.H.0 was done really smartly as well. After an ending section featuring a half-time breakdown where the vocals return, the track ends and we fade out to the sound of static noise.

"The title track 'Yè' (or 'Karma' in English) and its overture 'Shin' are the only two tracks with vocals (huge props to our great friend Jack Doyle from Her Dark Heaven for contributing their angelic vocal!) that we wrote from scratch and later produced together as a group. 'Yé' started as two guitar parts written by Howard playing pentatonic scales to imitate traditional Chinese plucked string instruments, but what truly defined it was Jun's addition of an ambient guitar lead that set the tone of the track: ethereal, heavy, at times eerie, and most importantly, East Asian — and not in the Western, on-the-surface sense where we could simply add a gong at the beginning of every section or a sample of any traditional East Asian instrument on top of a heavy metal or EDM instrumental." –Howard Ouyang a.k.a. Sen

"Jiva" begins with muffled, sub-heavy, pounding drum pattern, eventually becoming ornamented with additional shakers and percussion. Jun's guitar outlines a distorted, wailing melody in Phrygian dominant mode to introduce us to the harmonic soundscape of the track, setting the mood with a rather alien and desolate vibe. Chittering percussion and ambiguously tonal synth pads contribute to the growing apocalyptic mood of the track, before we hit a short vocoder break, followed by a tempo change that speeds us up and ratchets up the energy of the track. Electronic drums and heavy bass enter in full force, taking us into another synthwave/metal crossover section featuring octave-lead guitar and swelling synth arrangements. The vocoder returns, outlining a cacophony of speaking voices, talking over one another and becoming increasingly digitized in a really cool moment that evokes a sort of robotic symphony. "Jiva" feels like a sonic hurricane, a barrage of sounds that nonetheless remains tightly focused and evocative of some really cool sonic territory.

"The modular synth and the erhu production started later in the entire production pipeline, taking place mostly at Minghim’s studio apartment where he recorded and [engineered] the erhu by himself. Minghim’s addition of modular synth and additional production works also elevate the production value of the entire record, most notably on 'Jiva' and 'Wu Wuo': for example, the fragmented, modular chaos at the end of 'Jiva', which was made using Howard’s and his wife’s recitation of a poem from the game Cyberpunk 2077, and the thick, immersive layers of textures and pads under the erhu solo in 'Wu Wuo'." –Howard Ouyang a.k.a. Sen

The LP's fifth track, "Mo", features drum & bass influences front and center, as we open on a distant, weeping string sample and an uptempo, sped-up breakbeat. Chi-Chi's pentatonic erhu melodies are once again utilized nicely over a huge sub bass and distant, wailing pads. Minghim hits us with a breakdown section augmented with stereoized downers and distant flashes of chopped-up erhu in a moment that I thought made for a really cool moment of calm before the storm. However, in true P.H.0 fashion, it isn't long before we return to the aesthetics of black metal & doom metal. Pierre brings us a rapidly-subdivded kick drum and a syncopated rhythm that synergizes well with Jun's heavy chugs. Soon, the rhythm section finds a steady, driving pulse, where Minghim gets the lead, articulating some cool, icy synth melodies over the top of Jun's wall of guitars. A really cool moment came during a 12/8 time switch, where a plucked string instrument enters the stereo field; I'm not totally certain, but I think the string instrument is a guzheng, which made for a super cool addition that feels right at home amidst the guitars somehow. I remained seriously wowed by the intersectionality of P.H.0's synthesis of traditional East Asian instruments within an electronic metal context, and I thought that the inclusion of the guzheng here was a really tastefully done example of this. Shortly thereafter, Chi-Chi gets an erhu solo where she truly shreds, playing some super impressive fast riffs over Jun's massive guitar backing. In keeping with P.H.0's signature sound, "Mo" is another track which feels like a journey from start to finish, with stops along the way in various musical landscapes which P.H.0 harnesses and makes their own.

"Maruya" is a shorter track, clocking in at just under two minutes, and opens on a distorted, warped, almost-vocal sample. Minghim's synth textures soon enter to provide a steady arpeggiated techno, acid-house bassline, augmented with pleasant dissonances and faraway flashes of percussion. The track maintains a dynamic and constantly shifting soundscape on account of the use of arrangement FX and moving filters, which I thought was really cool. Soon, we get a four-on-the-floor kick which steadily builds energy heading into a huge key change accompanied by icy, howling synth pads and a haunting, arrhythmic vocoder. The cinematic, sweeping energy of this track is truly awesome, and feels like a movie trailer-sized spin on the artistic leanings of artists like Kid Reno. The inclusion of this interlude-like track made for a nice moment of respite from the otherwise-breakneck pace that defines this LP, allowing the listener to take a breath and be quietly immersed in the heady, apocalyptic, cyberpunk world of Karma for a second, while also serving as a very compelling showcase of Minghim and Howard's talents.

"Wu Wuo" returns us to techno territory, kicking off with a steady kick pulse and warped, robotic vocal samples. The Kid Reno & Dog Collar parallels remained strong for me here, with the heavy, subby pulse of the drums reminding me a little of the Ecliptic collaboration track "jacuzzi" from Dog Collar's Jungle Fairy Tale EP last year. Flickering percussion breakbeats (maybe bongos?) pair with offbeat open hats to create an interesting cross-section of traditional music that nonetheless exists in firmly electronic territory. Soon, Jun's guitar comes crashing in, outlining an indisputably sick Phrygian riff that intertwines throughout Chi-Chi's erhu passages. The interplay between Chi-Chi and Jun is showcased really well here, I feel, with both getting plenty of chances to solo and flex their instrumental chops; in particular, Chi-Chi's rapid, nimble sixteenth note shreds made for a really cool addition. A spoken, 1950s radio play-esque vocal sample plays over a short break, proclaiming the forthcoming abolishment of worldly pleasures in a moment that furthers Karma's ominous vision of the future. Finally, there's a really cool halftime break in the last leg of the track where the guitar breaks off into syncopated chugs as Minghim's wailing synth textures take up residence in the background before the track's eventual end. On first listen, the dynamism that so often defines P.H.0's work for me felt less present here, and I felt less like I was being taken on a journey as compared to some of the other more rhapsodic endeavors in the tracklist, but as I've come back to this track more and more, it's slowly entrenched itself as being one of my favorites on the album. The apocalyptic soundscape of Karma is conveyed nowhere better than through the distant spoken proclamations, erhu shredding, pounding subs, and crashing metal riffs of "Wu Wuo", and the vibe of this track is nothing short of incredible.

"Bodhaka" is another short, interlude-style track that opens on soaring, dark-80s cyberwave synths before collapsing into a huge open fifths vocal sample that rides the line between organic and synthetic. Minghim's sound design really shines here, with a ton of cool evolving chord tones that incrementally fade in and out to keep the musical soundscape slowly yet resolutely moving forward. Around halfway through, the track enters a big switchup with a bunch of pseudo-vocal synth pads entering, accompanied by what sounds like a distant howl in the background. It's a really cool sound; I'm not sure whether its origins are organic or fully synthetic in nature, but either way, it makes for a really cool cinematic moment, a cloud-clearing rush that takes us into the LP's final act.

"While most drum parts were pre-programmed by Howard for demo purposes, Pierre, as the drummer of the band, was in charge of programming the drums, selecting kits, and perfecting the flow of the drums to make them sound realistic when they needed to. We used a mix of virtual drum instrument plugins by GetGood Drums and stock Ableton drum samples." –Howard Ouyang a.k.a. Sen

"Genko", the penultimate track on Karma, opens with a pulsing, cybernetic D minor synth groove that rather reminded me of the soundtrack to Detroit: Become Human for some reason. A lead melody soon enters over the faraway, muted pulse of the kick drum, taking the form of an erhu sidechained in quarter notes, which I thought made for a really nice touch of extra dynamism, even amongst Chi-Chi's already very expressive playing. The Phrygian zither countermelodies sound excellent in context, once again showcasing P.H.0's ability to combine melodic textures from synthetic and Asian traditional soundscapes. The track hits with a huge beat drop that takes us into a synthwave drum pattern consisting of a steadily rising & falling hi-hat pattern over a reverbed, snappy snare drum and a solid kick. The momentum of this thing feels very unwavering and purposeful, evoking images like an android factory assembly line, metallic robot arms clanging in unison up and down the way. Eventually, we break into a clanging snare with trap hi-hat rolls over a detuned synth bass and distant claps that shake up the groove a little and take us into loosely cyberpunk-ish Eurobeat territory. I thought this little change in sound selection was really nice, and made for a continuation of the previously-established vibe while still throwing us enough new material to keep us entertained. There's a nice middle section where all the synth lines slowly become more noisy, distorted, and hi-passed, before we fall back into a heavy guitar-driven section. The tempo/meter switch into 5/4 time that happens here didn't quite feel totally natural to me, though it did make the eventual return to common time amidst Jun's syncopated chugs and Chi-Chi's soaring lead that much more satisfying, so I suppose it works as a structural element. "Genko" definitely feels like an ambitious piece of work, and I really appreciated its heavier lean into the cyberpunk aesthetic of P.H.0's work—the seamless evocation of dark, neon-lit skyscrapers under a desolate, gray sky thick with smog works excellently here, and I found myself pulled even more firmly into the world of P.H.0 for a second.

With that vivid image still fresh in my mind, returning to "Ascension" felt like coming home. This song had served as my introduction to the work of P.H.0 in the first place, and it served in that role in remarkable fashion, articulating a sharp, edgy, striking picture through a laser-focused artistic vision. The momentous, cinematic, morin khuur-laden buildup right from the start of the track hits that much harder now that it arrives at album's end, and the arrival of each element one by one—the soaring erhu, the fast-paced breakbeat, the growling sub bass, the chunky, jagged power chords—feels like each band member returning to the stage at the end of the show for one last hurrah, leaving everything out there once and for all. In short, it's a listening experience of epic proportions, and its inclusion here as the last track on the album was a fitting choice. Karma goes out much the same way it came in—as the final whisper of erhu fades away, Karma cements itself as an explosive whirlwind of sounds, sandblasting its way out of the gates, whistling & howling as it whips away amidst the current, leaving behind a windswept cityscape begging for more.

"What we want is to create something new using both Western and Eastern musical elements and based on the musical framework of the East and give these historically rich and now endangered musical instruments, techniques, and ideas the representation and the reinvigoration they deserve and desperately need. We aimed to capture the essence of East Asian music not by merely adding traditional instruments as superficial ornamentation but by reflecting our social, cultural, historical, and religious experiences living in various parts of East Asia, from Taiwan and China to Japan. This very much encompasses the core theme of this record: expand upon the more Western-dominated musical palette, make musical elements derived from Western music traditions serve the musical framework of the East instead of the other way around, and develop our unique musical language, which is authentic and truly East Asian. In that sense, P.H.0 is an 'experimental' band, serving as an experiment in flipping the power dynamic between the musical framework of the East and the current musical landscape dominated by Western music traditions." –Howard Ouyang a.k.a. Sen

 

Karma is an album that exists firmly entrenched in a crossroads of sorts; the various influences from heavy metal, drum and bass, synthwave, and East Asian folk music are combined and incorporated into each other in a tasteful and natural fashion to give rise to a fusion sound that truly belongs to P.H.0 in a way not many artists can claim. Each of the contributions of P.H.0's five members feel clear and distinct, pulling from a diverse selection of different lived experiences & musical backgrounds that nonetheless come together into a cogent & cohesive whole that feels far greater than the sum of its individual parts. For me, the album experience encapsulated a really poignant summation of my own experience as a product of the Asian-American diaspora. Maybe it's the album's ability to adapt familiar Western musical elements to a distinctly Eastern context that feels very evocative of my own longing to reconnect with a culture and heritage from which I have always been distanced; as a child, my own parents made an effort to make sure I assimilated into American life, and I did so successfully, but at the cost of my connections with my Chinese and Korean heritage. My own lack of immersion into my family's culture and inability to speak their languages permanently distances me from ever being truly accepted as being a part of that society and world, and perhaps it is for this reason that I found Karma so powerful. Language might be learned, but music is universal, and as such, this album has a unique ability to bridge the gap across which myself, as well as many others, including the members of P.H.0, exist.

 

In short, this LP is incredible, and hits very close to home. From start to finish, the intentionality of this LP remains its biggest selling point; despite the huge diversity in sounds from which the members of P.H.0 pull, they remain resolutely self-assured as they forge a new path into uncharted territory. The creative vision behind this LP is truly striking—the band's goal of recontextualizing Western sounds in an Eastern framework is compelling from the outset, but it was evident even from the very first listen that their conceptualization of the sound they want to be associated with is crystal clear. Not one single track on this album feels like a half-baked idea, or a loose figment of an ill-fated artistic experiment that never should have left the drawing board. The imagery elicited by this album was also extremely strong, and I found its creative vision to be exceptionally vivid and striking as a result; the conceptualization and execution of Howard's vision was achieved remarkably well on account of everyone's careful contributions, innovative sound design, and excellent management of their own soundscape. Aside from a few minor points of contention with the mix, which are likely stemming from my own personal preferences anyways, this LP is bulletproof. Karma is likely to be one of the most striking debuts I've heard in a long time, and I fully consider myself to be aboard the P.H.0 hype train now—wherever they take us next, I'm sure that both the destination and the journey will deliver something insightful, profound, and ascendant, and I await eagerly for them to take us there.

Personal enjoyment score: 10 out of 10

Standout tracks: "Vanity", "Yè (feat. Her Dark Heaven)", "Mo", "Wu Wuo", "Ascension"