by Alex Goode
Hello, everybody! My name is Barely Awake, and welcome back to another album review. This time, I'm taking it back a few years and not talking about a new release. I asked one of my friends for a suggestion as to what I should look into reviewing, he recommended this, and so here we are. This is The Drum Chord Theory, it was released on January 27th of 2017, and it was the debut solo studio album by Matt Martians. Let it be known that I am not too familiar with Matt's work outside of his contributions to Odd Future. Listening to this album was my first experience with Matt's solo work, so I guess there's no better start than by checking out his debut. It's a few seconds shy of being 42 minutes in length, and there's just twelve tracks, so this will be a much smoother experience than doing Music to Be Murdered By was. I'm very interested in checking this out, so let's get to it.
Moving on from that, we have "Where Are Yo Friends?", which is mostly more of the same that the first two were. Very soft, very pretty, very laid back (almost bordering on low-fi), a beat switch in the second half. I can pretty much say the same things here that I did for the first two tracks, although I will add that I love the spacey, electronic additional bits of percussion heard in the first half of the song. I even like the weird vocal layering this time, it sounds very playful. This first bit kinda sounds like something Tyler, the Creator would've sung over on IGOR (which is very fitting to say, considering that Tyler has a production credit on this album). The first minute and a half, give or take, is probably some of the best bits of this whole record, but then the second half comes in and just murders it with as much grace as a chainsaw. I really do not like the second half. None of the instruments blend together well, the mix is trash, it's borderline unlistenable. The saving grace is that it isn't very long. I do appreciate him giving his friends some love in the middle, though, that's pretty cool. After that, the very short "Baby Girl" happens. It's great. I love this song. I'd normally complain about repetitive lyrics, but the vocals sound so smooth on this track that it makes it worth it. I love this vocal melody so much that it doesn't matter me that it repeats a bunch. Like before, the lyrics are cute and the singing sounds pleasant, but, to my surprise, there's no unfitting beat switch tacked on to the end. Matt verbatim says "Ain't no hidden track back here, next song", which, firstly, thank you. Secondly, I really like the moments like these when Matt just talks. It has a very calming vibe to it, he seems like a genuinely really good guy. These moments show off his personality really well. I can say the same for the next track, "Southern Isolation". Aside from the weird, though admittedly nice, intro that ended before it could go anywhere, this is yet another great piece of low-fi vibes. The punchy bass, the snare that sounds like Matt recorded himself scrubbing something, the piano notes. This sounds really lovely. The repetition of the lyrics is once again back, but in another instance where I can just lose myself in the music and not be bothered by it. It ends in a pretty cute way, too, with Matt and Syd musing about wanting some acid.
Which then segues into the next track, "Found Me Some Acid Tonight". I guess him and Syd went out and got the acid they wanted, I hope it was a good trip. This track is barely a minute long, there's not a whole lot to say about it. It could work as a fun interlude, but I don't know if that's what Matt was going for. I will say, though: The kick that sounds like a fax machine is being beat with a bat is super annoying. Just because something is in-time, it doesn't mean it fits the song. Next up is another two-part song, this one is called "Alotta Women/Useless". This is one of the few songs that has a featured artist, this one being a woman named Kari Faux. I don't know a whole lot about here, but Genius calls her the "Rap Game Daria", which I think is pretty great. As far as the song itself goes, it's pretty good! The vocal layering on the chorus sounds a little weird, but the rest of it is mixed very well. Kari's verse goes hard, the beat in the first half sounds glittery and pretty, Matt has a great flow in the first verse. And the second half is enjoyable also. The transition from one beat to the other is a lot smoother here than it was on "What Love Is", the lyrics on the second half outshine that of the first, the beat sounds slick and funky, the vocal performance is good. This is another solid track. Following this is the song "Down". Story-wise, this one seems like it picks up where "What Love Is" left off. Matt is now worried that the GF he has that is out of his league will soon leave him, and he feels down about it. Again, this is a relatable feeling, and, again, I think the track does a good job of expressing it. The beat is super pretty, with the punchy drums, the fluttery flute, the constant pad, it all comes together to make a gorgeous piece of music. It then gets super psychedelic in the second half when yet another beat switch happens, this one sounds like the track is reversing back to the starting point. If I was on acid while listening to this, I'd probably be freaking out right now. It's an interesting decision, to say the least. Moving on, "Dent Jusay" is next. This one features guest vocals by Steve Lacy and Syd, and the three artists here give great performances. I'm especially impressed by Steve, his voice is so nice. The instrumental and lyrics are nice as well, the only problem being that the actual song portion of the track ends before it can feel fully fleshed out, It stops before it can even hit the two-minute mark, and then the rest of the runtime is a recording of a phone call. It's pretty entertaining, don't get me wrong, but I was really vibing with the song.
Remember when I said that Tyler, the Creator has a producing credit on this album? His presence is felt at it's highest in the next track, "Callin' On Me". This is another song that was split into two parts, but, unlike the ones with a backslash in the titles, this one is one single song that just has a beat switch in the middle, as opposed to two distinct songs meshed into one track. Clocking in at close to six minutes in length, you'd think it would drag, but it really doesn't. This is another groovy track! I love the drum pattern, the guitar strumming, the piano flourishes you hear at random points throughout. The chorus on this track is probably the catchiest one of the whole album, the second verse goes super hard, the mix is good, and the beat switch is also handled very nicely (special shout out goes to the synths in the second half)! This is a solid song, I like it a lot. The following track, "Diamond in Da Ruff", is more of the same. Another two-part song with repetitive lyrics, a low-fi beat that is very easy on the ears, infectious Tyler, the Creator energy. I will say, though, this song features what I think is the best beat switch. The punchy kicks, the pianos, and good LORD do I love that bassline, There's really not a whole lot of ground to cover about this track that I haven't already said about the rest of them, so let's move on to the final track: "Elevators (Bonus)". This final track, once again, is more of the same, because we have yet another two-part song. This is probably the best of the two-part tracks, however, so I'm glad we're ending on a high note. The chorus is catchy, Matt's vocals are nice as usual, the "SHE WAS YOUUUUU" refrain is a massive ear worm, the reverby guitar is massively pleasing to the ears, and the second half is also massively catchy. And, you know what, I have to praise the ending. Matt acknowledges how weird the album is, and then says it's that way on purpose because he's trying to make something that is an extension of himself. I can respect that, and I'd say he succeeded.
