Something Ambiguous: 'The Arcade' Album

The 80’s seem to be the decade that doesn’t want to die. From the leg warmers to bright neon vomited colored clothing, the 80’s doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. This becomes more apparent in today’s music styling as well. Just take a look at Hyper Crush. Who is Hyper Crush? Hmm, how do I put this? Oh, I’ve got it. Picture this, the Black Eyed Peas and 3Oh!3 have a baby raised in the 80’s. That sounds about right. And their album The Arcade is, if not musically, lyrically a homage to the 80’s.

Hyper Crush was recently one of may bands to perform at this year’s Bamboozle. Well, I missed out on Bamboozle so I decided to look into the bands that I hadn’t heard of. And boy was I surprised when I heard Hyper Crush. I felt like I was watching an episode of VH1’s I love the 80’s. That and I couldn’t handle all the bright colors. Did someone tell them neon was the new black? Or did I just miss the memo at some point? >.>

In all seriousness, I don’t know what to make of this band. I went to there web page to find out some boring bio info about the group. Well, Hyper Crush is composed of three members. Donny Fontaine, Holly Valentine, and DJ Preston Moronie. Although I don’t know if that’s their real names. Huh? Yeah. Let me give you a sample of their web page bio. The members met during a fistfight at Denny's in San Fernando. Holly was a waitress that broke up the fight. Donny started rapping in the summer of 1956, at some point winning a "freestlye battle" at the Country Manor Home for the Mentally disabled. Preston is an advocate of sexism and domestic violence. He is also a convicted felon and "full time" alcoholic. Holly was born in the "Jungles of South America". Holly fled to the United States after killing several Police Officers. Anyone else see some issues here? Well, at least this adds a fun and nonsensical flare to a band that’s chocked full of 80’s nostalgia.

Ok. So the album. Their only known album is The Arcade, which was released on April 29th, 2008. Yes, I know. I am a year behind. Give me a break. Anyway, their genre can only be explained as a mash-up of hip hop and electronica. Which is cool. Pretty much every song has an ill beat and I’d say a third of the songs are club ready as is. Some just need a good remix. The rest? Well, you could sneak them into an 80’s night and I doubt anyone will notice the difference. Which brings me to my next point. Their music style is dated. Not in a bad way. But it isn’t like you can say their sound is any kind of ground breaking.

As much as I like them I have a problem with some of their songs. Their most original sounding ones, like “Infinite Youth” and “Mueve Low”, are some of the weaker tracks. The track “Boom Box” has a very similar beat and lyrical styling to that of “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas. While some other strong tracks I could’ve sworn were 3Oh!3 tracks when I had my iPod on shuffle. These tracks saving graces from being biters are the fact they are chocked full of 80’s references. Especially their strongest track “The Arcade.”

I’m give The Arcade a 2.9 out of 5. While the album is very enjoyable, I can’t shake the feeling like I’ve heard these songs before. Some of the songs even share similar lyrics. Also, how any times do you need to give group members and your band’s name a shout out in a song? I do recommend picking it up. But I suggest you give the songs a good listen before hand.

"The Arcade"