ALBUM REVIEW: IKE WORLD – Eichlers

Russ ‘Ike’ Wood – best known by his stage name EICHLERS – moved to Salt Lake City in 2016, where the songwriting that he had started in his previous band KOI evolved to become EICHLERS. Whilst his 2020 debut album i may b cute, but im dumb af was heavily influenced by emo rap and also flirted with hyperpop and ska, which was a major sound on its 2022 follow-up My Checkered Future, his latest effort IKE WORLD combines ska, pop-punk, and hyperpop to present a soundtrack for a new generation who are looking for somewhere to belong.

Given that the 14 tracks on this record only ask for 22 minutes of your time, EICHLERS is sensible to get right to it in Idiot Summer Intro. All the songs on this record transition into one another, whether it is the video game electronic-beat that connects this opener to Tongue V. Cheek and Hindsight Is 420, or the upbeat pop-punk/electronic backing track of Say It Back.

Then again, the short runtimes have been a staple of EICHLERS‘ output ever since his first album, so he’s a master at it now. Thanks to the laidback beats of the songs, his vocals are never overwhelmed by the music, and as the album progresses, each song has its own individuality. So Tru Bestie is an upbeat pop-punk song that will get stuck in your head for days, whereas Picture Me Scrollin’ sounds like it came out in the early 2000s with its synth-heavy beat.

There are some missteps. Whilst it is a good song on its own with its electronic-punk sound, No Good Dudes doesn’t quite stand out against many of the rest, and Cirque du Survive suffers the issue of sounding almost identical to No Good Dudes. It doesn’t help that the two songs are placed next to each other, so they feel like one long song.

Thankfully from Live, Laugh, LUFS onward, the album straightens itself out. With its happy-go-lucky instrumentals and sad lyrics, the song is a masterclass in synth-punk, whereas Gotta Call Interlude transitions smoothly into A Goofy Movie, a fast-paced electronic-rock song. Closer On The Roof is an acoustic song with distorted vocals that makes for a simple track that brings the album full circle.

Overall, IKE WORLD is a brilliant album that shows why EICHLERS is one of the most exciting artists of the 2020s. With his unique blend of music that shows he doesn’t want to be pinned to one label, here he expands his musical palette even more with the inclusion of synths and electronic music that wouldn’t sound out of place in a nightclub. Even though a couple of the songs near the end sound a bit similar, the rest have their own individual sound which makes each of them stand out even if the runtimes are short. The vocals are given space to highlight the fantastic voice that he has, and ultimately – despite the short runtime – this album proves that sometimes less is more.

Rating: 8/10

IKE WORLD is out now via self-release.

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