Punk Rock Jesters

Identical Orange Country twins Fletcher and Wyatt Shears revved up their musical engine in 2011 and have since created their own platform for expression without convention. The brothers started a band called The Garden and consequently began building their own genre, “Vada Vada,” which subverts typical sonic categorizations and promotes a mode of creation without rules or limitations. Their new album, “Horse[EXPLETIVE] On Route 66” (HOR66), breaks down all musical barriers and counters the expectations of their fanbase.

“HOR66” manipulates a combination of different genres like punk, rap, and electronic influences to create a mashup that perfectly flows throughout each song. Even though the tracks are hyperactive and packed with noise, from the raging, compressed drum machines to the grimy bass, each is explicitly unique and builds the haunted theme by evoking the soundtrack in the background of a horror movie. In addition to the instrumental complexity, the brothers use vocal samples to lead the listener through the corridors of a haunted house, where kitschy costumed creatures lurk. The intent is not to scare the listener, but to immerse them in a theatrical segment of a fun spooky story being told around the flames of a campfire.

Lyrically, the twins consistently sprinkle wit and sarcasm into genuine sentiments, while also leaving some songs for play and experimentation. But when they want to be serious, the message is clear. At multiple points, the twins criticize their fans for prying into their personal lives and trying to extract too many details from them. In true Vada Vada fashion, they make their independence from the fanbase clear. The song “OC93” plainly addresses the behavior of their fans, referring to them as “always suspicious about every cause” and later repeating in the chorus “I’ll just be what I have to be… / ‘cause that’s the way that it has to be.”

The vocals are what truly elevate The Garden. The twins easily switch from hardcore punk aggression to upbeat, nasal melodies. “Squished Face Slick Pig Living in a Smokey City” is a perfect example of the former. The long title seems intimidating, but a title any shorter would be doing the song a great disservice. It is a maximalist sonic representation of claustrophobic crowds, smoggy pollution and street violence, and the disgruntled grunts release the tension of industrial city life.

Another top track has to be “What Else Could I Be But a Jester.” The title itself is important because it confirms the band’s return to the jester aesthetic after a slight departure in the previous album, which ditched the face paint for goblins in garbage cans. However, with this track’s title and the face-painted portrait on the album’s cover, the return to the punk jester look is set in stone and The Garden will likely continue playing around with this aesthetic in the next lot of projects. Aside from band lore, this song’s focus is on the lyrics. The electronic beats in the back serve to emphasize the vocals without detracting from their potency. Solid, mechanical drums lead up to the chorus, where the only correct way to sing along is by yelling. By the end, it seemed like the instrumentals would accompany the chorus since they were building upon each other throughout the song, but the final repetition pauses all background noise and spotlights the vocals, which gives that stack of lyrics one last exhilarating jab into the listeners’ ears

While the twins may have mastered the art of yelps, the use of vocal samples may need some improvement. They were a bit too heavy-handed with all the sound bytes in their library, especially on tracks like “Haunted House on Zillow” and “At the Campfire.” The former starts with the aforementioned newscast audio, but after almost every line, a ghoulish laugh loudly and incessantly repeats, detracting from the otherwise catchy tune. “At the Campfire” offers a slightly different situation. The bulk of it is tolerable: ghost laughs blend smoothly into the background once the lyrics begin. The repeated snippet of a woman saying “people will do anything for a pot of gold” is weaved into the timing of the beat and incorporated as an actual lyric instead of a fun add-on. Despite the successful sample, the track begins with Irish YouTube gamer Jacksepticeye’s shrill voice: “top o’ the morning!” That Irish accent comes out of nowhere and there is no connection to the rest of the album. Simply put, it is an unnecessary jumpscare. Why did the twins add this? They probably just thought it was funny. From an outside perspective, it’s hilarious, but as a listener, it breaks immersion and leaves one wondering why there is a gaming leprechaun on a punk song.

Bouncing off the generally punk album released last year, “HOR66” brings in even more hardcore punk influence into the instrumentals with faster and heavier drum machines. While they raise some issues, the samples bind the frenetic experimentation into one haunted theme, setting “HOR66” apart from all of The Garden’s previous projects. Moreover, the jester costume returned with a slight aesthetic change to fit the theme—they’re creepier, they’re campier and they’re meaner.

Future projects will definitely use the aesthetic progression on “HOR66” as a supplement, but hopefully, the twins will part ways with Jacksepticeye.