Now THIS I like!
Deep cut here- no wiki page for Alice Gas...YET! But she's on the socials. Soundcloud anyone?
If people want to label Alice Gas's music as "hyper-pop" and put it in a category with bands like 100Gecs* then who am I to argue? Except....I was listening to this music 20+ years ago when it was called Happy Hardcore. And to prove that, I will now drop some happy hardcore names: 1.) those indispensable HAPPY2BEHARDCORE CDs; 2.) DJ Muppetfucker from the dirty South, who only existed for 6 years; and 3.) the original global house diva, DJ Irene. This stuff is exactly like that stuff was: ultra-fast beats, melodic synths, happy singing. As long as we are talking genre, some might call this EDM. Though I never use those three words as a descriptor, it is certainly apt. But it's not really dance music: there are as many breakdowns as beats, and I would need to see a chiropractor and possibly a cardiologist if I really tried to dance to this wild stuff (Can I just sit-down and pump my fist, please?). Therefore, I'm going to broadly declare this "post-dance electronica" of the happy hardcore variety, as opposed to post-EDM, which seems more about mixing DJs and bands.
Whatever we call it, Alice Gas music is enormously fun. It should be played VERY LOUDLY or not at all. Maybe use it to test out your speakers? In your car? Or, ideally, via a giant PA.
The first thing I listened to was a full album from 2019 called Sorry 4 Being Famous and it was awesome. "Ferrari" was a hit (her biggest to date), but "Slap on the Face" is a quintessential Alice Gas song that is my favorite and well worth two minutes of your life so here it is; turn it up!
Right? More like this, please. So it gets too loud and distorts a little. Does anybody hear me complaining? It's REAL, ok?! As guest Kid Trash sings on "Run It Up": "I run it up / I don't give a fuck." Exactly. Maybe I'm still just reacting to the last band I heard, Alice Donut, but music doesn't always have to to pretentions or self-important. It can just be FUN sometimes too. There may be a irony in me recently complaining that Alice Donut sucked because they were devoid of ideas, but this music is so fun IDGAF - so there.
There are a bunch of random singles from Alice Gas between 2019 and 2022, when her most recent stuff (that I could stream) came out. They are ALL good. Soundcloud has as couple more recent remixes. And she's still playing out, as we will see in the Drama*Alert in a moment. Her 2021 EP Hardcore Heaven is really the best, as it assembles a bit of a thematic mix tape that is relentlessly fun. There's the charm, for me: the combination of an absolutely brutal and punishing rhythm mixed with cheery sounds and vocals. LOVE IT. WANT MORE. NOW PLEASE
UH OH! *Drama Alert* Since I don't feel authorized to comment on what's going on here, I'm just going to deliver a post from last summer's Reddit that covers it better than I could.
To help fans of these bands Googling this topic understand what's going on, I'm making a masterpost of everything that's going on with the gas/glass/gec Drama.
Opinionated Take. Please do your own research. I could be wrong about things. This drama is niche and not very well known. Please make corrections/add details in the comments. Don’t be rude about it. If you disagree with my opinions, please state so respectfully. +TW: SA.
Alice Glass is a former member of Crystal Castles who departed from the duo because her band mate was SA her. She made her new band in support of a SA survivor organization under Alice Glass. She has greenlighted a remix collab with Alice Gas, aware of Gas' name with no complaints prior to this drama.
Recently, Glass has sent Gas messages, upset that Gas' name is similar to hers, asking her to change it.
A couple months ago, 100 gecs performed at Boiler Room, and Gas was one of the musicians that was chosen (not by 100 gecs) to be an opener. Despite this, Glass sent 100 gecs messages calling them disrespectful for doing a Boiler Room that Gas happened to be at. Although, she did not contact the other artist who was physically standing with Gas performing with her. 100 gecs Boiler Room video on YouTube makes no mention of Gas and Gas did not perform alongside 100 gecs at all.
Gas said she would change her band name on her next release (I'm aware that at one point she said she'd change it in a month, but what would you do as a tiny artist when one of your favorite celebrities comes at you suddenly) which makes sense branding wise and helps her fans follow the change/not lose track of her, which she hasn't done yet because her new release isn't done yet.
Plus, using Alice ____ is not original at all. Glass based Alice off of something she shoplifted and Glass from a character.
In addition, when you start out as a transgender ultra niche genre SoundCloud artist with hardly any following, a play on another artists name you love doesn't seem to matter because you obviously feel insignificant compared to that celebrity, and you don't expect to get famous, and I'd argue that Glass is still more famous than Gas, like significantly. Most people don't even make the connection, like myself, even though I knew both artists. "Alice Gas" has an entirely different mood and vibe around it than "Alice Glass", and Gas' branding, music, album art, and aesthetic are completely different from Glass. Despite this, Glass sent them an angry message saying "Take my face too, take my body too" which is ridiculous to even say to someone who has no resemblance to you physically at all, and isn't reminiscent of you in any other way other than making their band name a TRIBUTE to you. Hyperpop uses references heavily, and I haven't heard a single Alice Gas song that sounds anything like Glass' solo work or her work when she was in Crystal Castles, nor any samples in Gas' work that are from anything Glass has made.
Also, Glass didn't seem to mind when she greenlighted a remix of one of her songs that Gas helped make. So the sudden change of heart seems really disingenuous to people on the outside watching this all go down. Like, it would have been way easier for Gas to change their name earlier in her career if Glass said something then, or make the collab a way to signal boost Gas' new band name, but instead she seemed happy to do a collab with Gas. This is why people disagree that Glass is sensitive about her name because of the history of her breaking off and making her own band to escape SA, because if it was something to do with that people expected for her to have a problem with Gas' name when she was reached out to in order to greenlight the remix- in which their names are right next to eachother.
That being said I'm curious to see what happens when Gas releases her new album. I truly believe that people can make the connection (and tell the difference) between Glass and Gas since its revelant to the subculture and knowing that Hyperpop, in and of itself is a mix, parody, contradiction, exaggeration of 2000's-2010s EDM, pop, emo, punk, ska, weeb, goth, meme, dubstep, lgbtq, YouTube, Tumblr, culture and the like- it makes sense for Gas to have the name she has. Again, wasn't an issue when Glass collabed earlier- I think since Gas is becoming more popular, Glass is now being petty about it. Plus, Alice Gas brings a younger crowd that would typically never listen to Glass to her music, which is cool. But I guess Glass didn't think about that.
Side note:
People are confused why Gas being transgender has anything to do with this, and I'd just say this: Alice Gas, legal name Alice, is a transgender woman. Alice Glass said, "take my face too, take my body too." Alice Glass is a very conventionally attractive ciswoman. Alice Gas looks nothing like her and their styles are not comparable at all. I don’t think that it being construed as hurtful has anything to do with Glass asking her to change her name specifically, more just that comment didn't make sense if she was just mad about Alice Gas having a tribute name. Its obvious that Gas is not copying Glass in any way, artistically. So that comment about her face and body kinda rubs people the wrong way, because transwomen struggle with dysphoria because of society's perceived pinnacle of a beautiful woman: thin, pale, very conventional cisheteronormative facial features, all things that Glass has naturally, while Gas has to go through hormone therapy and surgery to obtain feminine features. It's just insensitive. I could understand her saying that if Alice Gas was copying her style, but she isn't. It comes off as very pretty girl privileged.
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Well there you have it, clearly if not necessarily objectively. Can confirm that Alice Gas is not seen or mentioned in the popular 100Gecs Live from the Boiler-room video. I know whose side I think I'm on, but either way - it is time to listen to Alice Glass.
For now then, massive props to Alice Gas: hope you get to keep your name and pump us all full of more music soon.
*OMG do I need to go BACK and listen to 100Gecs. Yes, yes I do.
