Meth Math – Chupetones

In Real Life

Meth Math - ChupetonesOne of the more fun things about musicians in their twenties, probably, is that they have admirable disregard for the norms of music because, well, why would you.

This is listed as an album and is just north of twenty-five minutes long. But it is, of course, about what you can pack in, not how long you take. And I doubt most people making ‘albums’ that are ‘a proper length’ are also making music that is quite so ‘reggaeton, but also ketamine’.

Meth Math have been around a wee while now — a few EP / single bits that I hope have excited the Mexican weird-reggaeton world aflame. I’ve not managed to convince anyone to get excited by them, so I hope they have other pushers over here. The most important thing to know about them really is that they’re fucking brilliant.

I’m not sure if I spoke Spanish whether their lyrics would be any less inscrutable. Again, admirable disdain for norms — all the reverb, all the effects. They’re still vocals, and they’re still pop vocals, but they’re definitely opaque.




As I’m listening now I’m wondering if the touchpoint might be something like SOPHIE — you know, when she was doing all that super inhuman vocals over fully luscious and sensual tones. “Mermelhada” on this record is very much that. There’s touches of, like, stimmy hoover synths and outragous bass and touches of hardcore, but they’re never quite in one place; if they stop for a second it’s only ever to switch up the ideas in a second. OK, “Cyberia” is absolutely gabber-y hardcore + weird vocals, but anyone who begrudges hardcore needs to fuck off.

Maybe one of the odder things about Meth Math is that they never outstay their welcome — everything is nice and short. Everything is like some some hallucination of a Britney Spears album track (let’s say around the Blackout / Circus era, ie, the best era). What I mean really is that this is pop music that has the confidence to be weird, and weird music that isn’t afraid to elicit emotions like all the best pop does. But with a broader idea of timbre and arrangements.

There’s a nice range of tempos — mostly in the upper range but never silly. Closer “Pócima” is still a driving banger rather than a slow number, which is correct — closing with a slow number is for the weak and scrutable.




Did I mention that Meth Math are FUCKING BRILLIANT? I hope I did. You should get this album. You should get the absolute fuck out of it.

-Kev Nickells-

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