Zerobinary | Synthetic Helix

Family Average: 4.9/7

Hello there readers! This week’s review was brought to us by our second oldest, Maggie. Zerobinary happens to know Maggs personally and requested a review of their album with a quote something along the lines of, “I wanna hear what your dad thinks of it.”

Hopefully Papa didn’t disappoint! If you’d like to listen along to the album while you read it’s located here on their bandcamp. Now let’s get to it:

Felt very 80s yet modern.

My mind went to robocop, dark cities, and shiny black plastic jackets. I liked it a lot. It was like I was transporting elsewhere. A pleasing journey.

5.5/7

Crush me up into tiny pieces and shove me into a computer because I am one hungry customer. By this I mean that I am always ready for a romp through a cyberpunk jungle.

I just re-watched the new Bladerunner, and this song collection scratched my itch. Hot hot hot. Super fun stuff! On almost every track I found myself bursting with energies! Keep these tracks coming fellas and I will always be obliged to listen.

6/7

ZeroBinary.  To be fair, this work followed one of my most favorite groups, the Jefferson Airplane, plus I am not a fan of techno music. So i was really trying to be objective.

Play this track and picture (in your mind) a civil war movie, a battle scene, in slow motion, you can hear the wind pushing through the battlefield, see the smoke from the cannons, the mud splashing up from the horses. Soldiers on both sides getting blown to bits, body parts flying everywhere. A young lieutenant yelling commands that you can’t hear, he reels back shot in the leg. You can really get lost in it all.

Suddenly at around 1:30 the movie drastically changed to a 1970’s TV crime series, think Charlie’s Angels…maybe Kojak but definitely not Hawaii 5-0. Where in the hell did that Synthesizer come from? And Why?

Cool vibe 4/7 ….. Peace Out

First track I heard, “BLOOD.” I liked because it reminded me of the techno infused music coming from Kevina’s room, or what he blasts through my car stereo on the way to surf practice, lol.  The Lyrics, more than the music, on some tracks appealed to me. However, in some cases, like the track “ALRIGHT.” and “YAH.” I enjoyed both tremendously. Sadly, the song I liked the least featured Rihanna. Just expected something with more substance from two talented artists.  

6/7

While Synthetic Helix is not my preferred style of music to throw on, I also didn’t find it NEARLY as intrusive as other albums of this genre.

It may not have been a great idea to put this so close together with Gay Story…but I mean idk maybe Gay Story helped warm me up to another similar background music, non lyrical album?

Maybe I’m starting to see where I inherit traits from my Dad here cause I am feeling very set in my ways on not wanting to turn a dramatic corner in my musical interests haha.

4/7 ….the next album we review better have WORDS, damnit!

This album’s got the feel of a soundtrack to a retro cyberpunk sidescroller, has that sense of mission and exploration to it. Drones on a bit at times without changeup or variety,  but that’s just par for the course with techno; it’s supposed to be more of an atmosphere setter than an intensive listening experience. Not so much an album that tells a story so much as one that paints a strange array of abstract pictures.

I agree with Dad that the final track, Synthetic Helix, left the most lasting impression on me. The solitary notes in the beginning felt like flashes of led light amidst a dark metal landscape, but when the rest of the accompaniment falls into place everything comes alive.

I’ll admit it starts out slow but if you stick around it’s got a great payoff.

5/7