ATARI GANGSTER
Monster in Me
Dead Man Walking
Shame Shame
Toxic by Design
I Can’t See
Love Isn’t Real
“Monster In Me” is a solid starting point for the Atari Gangster catalog. Solid production and a catchy melody, with female vocals sparring with Atari Gangster, painting a picture of a strained relationship with an unreliable narrator. The audience is left trying to piece together what has happened and in the end there really isn’t any resolution, just the desire to press play one more time on the track.
“All I see is this blood on you
Why’s there blood on my
Who’s blood is this”
With over 10,000 streams already on Spotify, it seems we’re not the only ones listening to “Monster In Me” again and again.
Atari Gangster takes a left turn with “Dead Man Walking.” Multiple vocal takes layer upon themselves over a simple acoustic guitar progression. It’s a warping of genres as the track is hard to pin down into a nice little box. The production style feels indie and lo-fi in it’s simplicity, with it’s magic happening in the vocal layers, sounding like they could be pieced together voicemail messages, sewn together in a way that would make both Justin Vernon and Kanye proud.
Sampled audio clips from Milton Bill Cooper, author of the book A Pale Horse Rides about Osama Bin Laden introduce “Shame Shame” and Atari Gangster returns to a more traditional production style, with his freestyle lyrics dancing on top of the beats. The track is about the orchestrators of 09/11, with additional audio clips threaded in including a sample from a firefighter at the base of the building and an eyewitness to the events that day. Much like “Monster In Me”, the track ends without any solid resolution, more of a snapshot in time, allowing the listener to loop back and start all over again.
Perhaps his most popular song (at least judging by Spotify streams) is “Toxic By Design” and the catchy guitar lick on top of the percussive beats makes it clear why it’s already over 14K streams. Atari Gangster’s signature freestyle and layered vocals. A relaxed delivery without ever feeling sloppy, it clocks in at 2:46 and leaves me wishing it was a few minutes longer. While the lyrics may contradict this, it has such a chill delivery that I think this is one of my favorites so far from Atari Gangster.
“I Can’t See” is the latest single and jumps back to the acoustic guitar/layered freestyle vocals that were so impactful on “Dead Man Walking.” Almost the flip side of the same coin, a sonic twin that curves and weaves for close to 3 minutes, a laid-back vocal delivery over some simple acoustic guitar progressions. Nothing too fancy or crazy, just clearly executed with skill, even if there may not have been a definitive roadmap from the start.
“Love Isn’t Real” may be the most contemporary of these tracks, with a wider foundation of bass and drums and switching the guitars for keyboards. Atari Gangster’s signature vocal delivery remains but the track certainly feels like it’s from a different recording session, with a denser production. While the lyrics might not be quite so center stage on this track, they still have that same flow we’ve come to expect (and appreciate) from Atari Gangster.
You can find out more about Atari Gangster here.
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