The Ugly Art
Darn, where do I even start. I went to my first Machine Girl show in 2022, when they opened for 100 Gecs on their 1000 Gecs tour. In order to prepare, I spend the three months leading up to the concert working out to the discography of both of these groups. The Ugly Art was my introduction to the chaotic wonders of Machine Girl, and I've been a fan ever since. They've been described as digital hardcore, which I think is a good way of describing their sound. This album draws inspiration from anime, breakcore, the 90s rave scene and many other genres but what is most important to me is that:
THIS MUSIC MAKES ME WANT TO BREAK MIRRORS WITH MY FOREHEADIn the wise words of some guy on the internet, "Machine Girl sounds like a 30,000-year-old rave condensed into 30 seconds". Or something like that.
From ear-scratching industrial sounds, to catchy rave piano and amen breaks, to anime/internet culture samples, Machine Girl has it all.
All jokes aside, The Ugly Art is such a fantasic album, and the songs are even better live. Some songs that I really like off the top of my head are Necro Culture Vulture, Status and Psycho Signal Jammer.
This is probably in my top 100 albums of all time, 9.5 out of 10!