Lip Critic: Theft World (LP)

Lip Critic 2024's partisan debut, Hex Dealer, was one of the most hyped experimental releases of the year and marked the Brooklyn-based band's arrival as a boundary-pushing creative force. Theft World is their next chapter, built from the chaos of two drummers in psychic combat, a sampler that sounds like it was struck by lightning, and frontman Bret Kaser's paranoid preacher energy. But while Hex Dealer jumped from one absurd scene to the next, Theft World feels like a streamlined structure. Themes revolve around the concept of theft, not just as a political force or digital dilemma, but as a surreal, emotional constant. Club rhythms and hardcore breakdowns draw as much from Tyler, the Creator's "Igor" and Korn as they do from Skrillex and SoulCoughing, coming together to soundtrack a world that is constantly being dismantled and resold.