By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring Gabe ‘Nandez & Thomas Maggart’s boom bap masterclass FALSE PROFIT and Quarter Conscious’s urgent and math-y PALETTE!
Gabe ‘Nandez & Thomas Maggart – FALSE PROFIT
Genre: Hip Hop, Boom Bap
Favorite Tracks: “Vader,” “Poppy Seed,” “Lithium”
At the start of “Poppy Seed”—one of the singles and highlights from his new album with Thomas Maggart—after a regal piano lilt heralds his arrival, Gabe ‘Nandez makes a promise: “I be going hard as fuck.” He never wavers from that mission statement all throughout FALSE PROFIT, his seventh LP and first in collaboration with producer Maggart; the bio that accompanies FALSE PROFIT references his turn on billy woods’ “Sauvage” alongside Boldy James, both situating him in conversation with two of the most acclaimed rappers of the 2020s and providing a neat shorthand for the sort of laidback, ‘90s-looking rap ‘Nandez deals in.
Nearly all 10 tracks on FALSE PROFIT are midtempo and padded out with luxuriant soul samples and sparkling keys, and ‘Nandez never needs to rely on blindingly fast flows to dominate; his voice, husky and lived-in, sounds just as natural here as it did over the harder-edged beats of last year’s PANGAEA. On the relatively spare “Commerce God,” for example, his voice echoes to fill out the empty spaces between pangs of keys and quivery “oohs,” and his lowkey flow is a nice counterpoint to the pitched-up vocal samples that form the backbone of “Crane Stance.” The few features here help to accentuate his strengths rather than distracting—Ba Pace’s turn on “Slid” feels effortless and off-the-cuff, a nice balance to ‘Nandez’s more careful and studied flow, and RLX brings a venomous energy to “Galvarino.”
Part of that is likely attributable to Maggart’s production. While these songs have a bunch of moving parts—listen to just the first 15 seconds of the album—the beats are also unobtrusive and lush enough that any of the rappers on FALSE PROFIT can make them their own and, as ‘Nandez growls at the end of “Vader,” “bask in it.” Mikey Flame contributes the most animated verse on the album and ‘Nandez only jumps into “Star Destroyer” halfway through; the beat carries the track, lending a continuity to the two disparate verses. Admittedly, that song is an outlier on FALSE PROFIT, with an ominous synth line cutting in in place of the album’s typical piercing vocal backing; coming in at track seven, though, it’s a nice way to break things up. Though Maggart’s production is great, it has a very distinct flavor that can feel rote if overplayed; when ‘Nandez raps with a bit more fire, as on opener “Vader” or “Poppy Seed,” it results in some of the album’s highest peaks. At only 27 minutes, though, FALSE PROFIT doesn’t have enough time to overstay its welcome; instead it’s another solid outing from Gabe ‘Nandez, more proof that it doesn’t matter who he’s paired with—he’ll find a way to make a hit. Pick it up on Bandcamp. [Zac Djamoos]
Quarter Conscious – PALETTE
Genre: Emo-Pop, Midwest Emo, Math Rock
Favorite Tracks: “Forms,” “Wishing Wells,” “Wonder”
The blazing evolution within emo has been interesting to analyze, especially in the last couple of years, where there have been many attempts to branch out into a distinct lane. This is a wonderful thing to experience, especially as there are newer acts that have successfully blended emo with the poppy accessibility and technical complexity of other genres. To go with that example, enter Quarter Conscious, made up of Trevor Hilton (Vocals, Guitars) and David Goellner (Drums), who put out PALETTE, their debut project, back in October.
Throughout the first taste of this duo’s style in this brand of emo, it’s clear that they are taking a lot of melodic complexities from math rock and Midwest as well as the poppy sensibilities of pop punk, giving more sparking color to their overall sound. That, paired with wondrous vocal and production duties from Trevor Hilton and filled with frenetic, melodic throughlines brought by both Trevor and David, lends PALETTE a charming quality that’s easy to return to, allowing the songs to hit you right from the jump. The captivating hook of “Wonder,” where the drums just hammer along with punchy intensity; the soaring vocal singing of “Forms,” where the grooves nimbly let loose on the latter half of the track; the brighter Midwest emo riffing on “Daisy Chain” that leads to some ramping crescendos; the pop punk shreds from both the guitars and drums on “Hay Fever” that gives the song its pumping energy; the persistent charge of “Wishing Wells” that leads further into the melodic progressions amping up the fervor during the final leg of the song; and the cathartic finish of “Steady Hands” that comes through the head-banging melodic shift that comes after the first half of the song.
The first project from Quarter Conscious immediately manages to showcase their set of strengths. PALETTE gives away the waves of potential that the duo can build off of in the future, a straightforward canvas of emo-pop that’s carried with a snappy set of compositions, production, performances, and songwriting, promising excitement as to where this duo will expand from their already robust sound and theme. You can listen to Quarter Conscious’ sharp slice of emo-pop on Bandcamp. [Louis Pelingen]
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