Jean Dawson – Pixel Bath
Genre: Alternative?
Score: 6/10
This is the debut album from LA artist Jean Dawson. What to Expect: The kid has been turning heads thanks to his mix of virtually every alternative genre created since the early 80s. From what I can tell represents the media diet of Gen Z as well as some of the largest pop stars right now, and it’s clear he has a lot of sounds & genres of music that he’d like to put at the forefront of modern music once again. I’m here for the envelope pushing personally. I just hope I like what I hear.
Overall: : I had to sit with this one for a bit. I think this album has a lot to enjoy, as the writing is super creative. I really like how he incorporates themes of gang violence and paranoia that came from a rough comeup, as well as the continued paranoia that comes from enjoying one’s success. The way he juxtaposes it with all of these alternative genres is really cool. As I hear the record from front to back, each song reinforces this chaotic deep fried pixelated vibe that I get from scrolling through all sorts of wacky content on the Internet. Like most debut albums from new artists, he isn’t going to have the highest budget, nor is he going to have his own sound right out of the gate, which are not inherently bad things. Every major artist starts out sounding like other people, and eventually they come into their own as they drop more music over time.
That’s not to say that I don’t have any issues with the album. On many songs, the mix overall is very rough, and not in the endearing lofi “it’s SUPPOSED to be lofi” kind of way. By the tenth track I was getting a headache listening to the album. The sound balance is off and the distortion on his voice can be really overbearing. While lo-fi recordings are not always a bad thing, his performances throughout the album weren’t always good enough for me to move past the rough sound & casually enjoy each song. I found this album more listenable through my built-in laptop speakers than through my headphones or high fidelity system, which shows to me that the mix isn’t as good as it could potentially be. Still, that’s nothing a more dynamic album down the road with a bigger budget can’t fix.
Play by Play:
1. Devilish – His yelling like singing inflection at the beginning is a DEADRINGER for Young Fathers, which sells me instantly, considering that I personally think that they are one of the best musical acts of the past decade. The rock instrumental is very sunny and poppy. Reminds me of Brockhampton and Dominike Fike. Igor era Tyler as well. It’s also pretty New Wavey, reminding me of classic bands like New Order. The hook is super pop punk and pretty bratty. I dig it, and I’m definitely interested.
2. Triple Double – The rock instrumental sounds like some nostalgic 90s pop. It sounds very psychedelic as well, and reminds me of some of Tame Impala’s earlier albums. The A$AP Rocky feature came In suddenly but so far it’s a pretty good contribution. It also reminds me of some of Brockhampton’s bedroom pop songs. I love the synth at the end.
3. Shiner – He raps like Peggy on this. The instrumental sounds very vaporwavey, like a cut off of All My Heroes are Cornballs. Sorry there isn’t much to report on this track, but yeah. This just sounds like a JPEGMafia song.
4. Dummy – Oh snap! Looks like Breakbeat is making a comeback! I’m hearing the Prodigy, the Chemical Bros, and a bit of Sneaker Pimps too. I do enjoy the instrumental progression throughout the track. As an instrumental, it’s a really well constructed breakbeat song. That falsetto refrain on the bridge too? Nice touch, Jean
5. Bruiseboy – Warped Tape intro. This album has an incredibly short attention span. Despite the hook searing into my brain like a distorted hot iron, it’s very catchy and well written. It reminds me of the more upbeat poppy Brockhampton tracks. The guitar also reminds me of Trip Hop acts like Frou Frou and Portishead to a lesser extent. Only five tracks in and I feel like I’ve already listened to twice as many artistic influences of his music.
6. Pegasus – I like the buzzing guitar (or synth?) intro. I love the lyrics of this song. This song so far gives me the best sense of who Jean Dawson is as an artist, calling himself the Black Björk (funny, and apt) as well as bragging about “making the thugs love Simple Plan” (I cackled). I like the glitchy hook a lot as well. The chopped n screwed bridge is pretty creative too. I can see why A$AP Rocky would cosign him.
7. Poster Child – I like the piano and the warped singing at the beginning. The instrumental and vibe reminds me of the new wave of underground crate digging hip hop producers: guys like Slauson Malone & MIKE. Earl’s Some Rap Songs also comes into mind as well.
8. 06 Burst – This a pretty sharp industrial hip hop track. It reminds me of incredible acts like Clipping and CX Kidtronic in terms of the abrasiveness. The vocal effects and distortion work perfectly on this track. The hip house beat also reminds me of some cuts off of Vince Staples’s album Big Fish Theory (which in retrospect, was a pretty ahead of the curve). The vocal harmoinies and the text to speech hook is great, and when that revved up synth comes in and carries out the track, he’s bordering Death Grips levels of abrasive. Probably my favorite track on the whole album.
9. Starface* – I like the synths and the hook. They remind me of a mid to late 2000s indie band. His delivery sounds like an emo singer in a psychedelic pop track, which is a pretty unique mix of sounds. I also enjoy the vocal glitches throughout the track a lot. This song is also a good example of how a lofi mix can add to a song, rather than clash.
10. Policia – Guitar is sounding mighty indie in this intro. It’s a fun rager to mosh to once the beats drop. It’s a very pop punk refrain. I swear this guy’s trying to bring breakbeat back, and he may succeed at this rate. Though this song is really focused and a lot of cool ideas are on this, it sounds so off balance mix wise and every sound is just trying to one up each other in the Loudness War.
11. Clear Bones – At this point in my life, I felt like I’ve heard this guitar intro and vocal line at least 1000 times, and though his performance doesn’t necessarily warrant the 1001th listen, his lyric do. I love the theme of gang violence & anticipating death and this portrait of death being a rival banger ready to plot on Jean. He’s drowning a bit in his influences on this one, and the song has little replay value to me as a result.
12. Power Freaks – I think at this point in the album, I’d like to hear a raw or a clean vocal line from him. No distortion, no clipping, & minimum pitch correction. Just his voice and the instrumental. Don’t get me wrong, the glitchy effects served their purpose of making everything so vibrant and colorful musically, but is it necessary here? Not really. Especially with the slow quiet and very clean piano & synth passages, it doesn’t make much sense other than to add to the incredibly deep fried aesthetic of the album
13. Pyrotechnics – What’s so weird is despite him not changing up his production style at all from the last song or other songs from the album, this song is infinitely better. It’s a better performance, better balancing, and a clearer structure to justify all of these glitchy edits and the lo fi aesthetic. I love the woozy groove of the song, and the vocals remind me of Igor era Tyler the Creator and some Frank Ocean as well. I love the strings growing and it digitizing away. This album definitely lived up to the title.
Score: 6/10
Favorite Track in Bold
Just my opinion