Bad Time Records – 25 Mar 2022
Some people are playing checkers while Eichers is playing chess (FFO: Transplants, Atom and His Package, Bad Time Records)
What the fuck is hyperska?
From what I can tell, it’s a decidedly ska take on hyperwave, which in turn mixes hyperpop and synthwave. I understand that those words make sense and have meaning to people, but this feels like vengeance for all the years I’ve spent moaning over different subgenres of punk, hardcore and metal.
Perhaps an easier question then — who is Eichlers*?
An easy answer is that Eichlers (given name: Russ Wood) is certainly the best ska artist who shares a stage name with a Brooklyn Judaica store. The harder answer is to explain what Eichlers sounds like on his debut LP, My Checkered Future.
While short, the opening track “Hi” gives the listener an idea of what the next 20 minutes will sound like. Autotuned vocals? Check. Programmed drums? Check. Hip hop airhorns? Check. Pop culture reference? Check.
On “Things U C In Me”, Eichlers raps over programmed drums and barre chords. Eichlers shows off his vocal range, handling the hook with one voice and the verses with another. This song even has some sneaky upstrokes that exemplify Eichler’s ska pedigree.
On “Nickel City”, Eichlers gets onto his hyperactive ska-punk horse.While the synth and programmed drums are here, he gets backing support from SF ska royalty Omnigone, whose singer Adam Smith breaks down the door into the bridge with a bark that feels like Skinhead Rob duct taped to Tim Armstrong. Definite Transplants vibes coming out of nowhere.
On “Honestly So Sick”, guest Boboso sounds like Weird Al but in a good way. It wouldn’t be a ska record in 2022 if Jeremy Hunter (JER, Skatune Network) didn’t make an appearance. Instead of bringing his trombone, they drop a chill autotuned bridge over the song “Buddy Icon”.
Having listened to My Checkered Future, what is Eichlers? I may be in left field here, but I think that My Checkered Future could be the lost heir to the throne of Atom and His Package while simultaneously sporting fusion vibes akin the first Transplants record. Succinctly, it’s a love letter to ska punk, where Russ Wood incorporates the music he enjoys to ignite an oft-stagnant genre.
Or, to quote Eichlers, maybe he’s just a “whiny emo rude boy loser” with a laptop and an audio interface. I challenge you to let your ears be the judge.
*I missed Eichlers opening for Kill Lincoln and The Best of the Worst in Baltimore back in March.
Once hailing from the salty tundra of Syracuse, NY, Ben now calls the DC suburbs his home. He fell in love with punk after listening to Punk-O-Rama 3, Less Than Jake and MXPX in middle school. He loves to slam dance but is too large to stage dive.
When he’s not pretending to have exquisite musical taste, he’s raising two children, designing RPG products and practicing law. (Who knows if he’ll ever get the hang of it.)
