I’m sure by now everyone has seen these commercials for slot-machine apps where we’re led to believe that “real people”—per the vernacular of TV advertising—speak into their front-facing phone cameras about earning money on the app like it’s their job. These ads are disorienting in so, so many different ways—the portrait-oriented screen is often flanked by another column or two of flashing, sometimes nonsensical imagery—not least of which being the implication that this kind of scheme is perfectly legal now, just another of the nationally sanctioned scams of an era where sports-betting monoliths seem to have more power than a major city’s local government.
Lip Critic are among few artists who seem entirely fueled by these types of grifts, channeling an absolutely chaotic energy into a freak-punk opus in 2024 with Hex Dealer. Since then, band leader Bret Kaser underwent the horrifying ordeal of having his identity stolen, unlocking yet another realm of digital-age manipulation to draw influence from on their new album Theft World. The synth-punk antics feel dialed up on this follow-up release, with a newfound sense of rage infiltrating certain tracks as Kaser’s vocals erupt into a harsh yell that was largely absent from the band’s prior discography. And then there’s “Jackbot,” an early-album cut that takes a more literal approach to the overstimulating environment of a flashing arcade than a genre like dubstep ever could.
With the album dropping today via Partisan, Kaser shared five non-musical influences on the record which either embrace the sense of chaos that’s become inescapable in 2026 or harken back to a relatively subdued but equally strange time: the mid-2000s. Check out his picks and listen to the record below.
The Pirate Bay/ uTorrent
We all grew up pirating music and movies, and a lot of times the files would be super compressed and low quality. We tried to use that digital artifacting/compressions as the basis for the sounds of synths and samples over the track. There’s something beautiful about the muffled, watery sound of something super downsampled.
Conner O’Malley
Connor [Kleitz] and I both went to the premier of Rap World at BAM last year and have been big fans of his comedy for a while. There’s a flavor to his stuff that feels very akin to our sensibilities in music. Taking the bit too far is kind of our M.O.
SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition
The first video game I was aware of as a child. The mechanics and sound design of the game are deeply ingrained into my subconscious. Every time I make a mistake I can see my traffic advisor yelling at me.
Tim Duncan’s mid 2000s NBA Championship run
Greatest power forward of all time—dude led the San Antonio Spurs to five championships while not being the flashiest, most exciting player in the league. I feel like this has influenced my approach to drumming and writing music, with a mindset that playing doesn’t always have to be busy or flashy to be extremely effective.
Dorohedoro
I read the entirety of Dorohedoro while making the record, and the illustrations and story by Q. Hayashida were so immersive and visceral I couldn’t help but reference it over and over. The tone of the story balances extreme violence and brutality with a distinct sense of humor and lightheartedness that I really love and haven’t been able to find in other works.
