Review: Get Off the Internet by Eliminate released via Create Music Group
Sometimes you’re just here for the features.
After a bit of a dry spell for me album wise, it was the debut album by dubstep artist Nathan Merrill, better known as Eliminate, which finally got me out of my seat. I’ll be honest, I came here solely because I saw Frost Children and I Set My Friends on Fire on the track list but was pleasantly surprised by the entire record. I had no perception of genre or who this artist was going into it.
While I’m not usually a rave girl this is presented in a way where you don’t really have to be to appreciate what’s going on. There are a lot of nice, thought-out moments of downplay which don’t feel overblown or like they’re using cheap shots to make them memorable. It’s all just very real and expressive and most of the time it conveys this without words. The progression and sequencing is all very natural as well, pretty much all of these songs could be used as singles, but they also go hand in hand cohesively. I know I likely sound a little cynical toward the broad scope of electronic music as a whole and I will admit I can sometimes lose interest if my focus is all in here, especially on tracks like “EGOTRIP.” It’s not as if I think the song doesn’t work but the sort of dance-party, drone tracks don’t do it for me personally even if I think they are working realistically.
All of this being said, sometimes the cliches of the genre can be overbearing here. I enjoy the title track quite a bit with its low-down beat, its use of a computer keyboard as an instrument but it’s also, lyrically and with my best music critic lingo used, a little silly. I don’t even think this is making any sort of point, it's just point blank calling you stupid for being online and while there probably is a level of irony here, I don’t think it translates all too well. The worst of this side of the album comes off on “f_ck you.” Which is all built around just saying “suck my dick” and other such sentiments and while I can enjoy a fun vulgar track here and there the song itself is just sort of boring musically and does nothing for the betterment of the project as a whole. There’s the correct amount of sass in an album then there’s this.
As I said I did come here for features and all of them, to me, are absolute highlights. “SMSOU” is such a Frost Children song and would fit snugly on their SPEED RUN record from last year. Angel does these very trademark lowkey vocals, the production is overall stellar and the beat shift toward the end hits really hard. Matt from I Set My Friends on Fire feels so natural on “Poison Oak” and proves, no matter how much time has passed, he’s just such a strong, consistent vocalist. He simultaneously sounds the same and better than he did when I was a kid listening to this band. My favorite track here is definitely “Playing with Fire,” which I’m not sure is a feature or a sample. Either way, the pre-chorus here has these really nice acoustic guitars and the vocals, while near whisper, speak volumes. There’s a great method of anticipation used, it takes quite a while for this track to get as grand as it does and when it does it serves as the backdrop to the best RPG you’ve never played.
I think while I personally don’t get a lot out of Get Off the Internet as a whole the key tracks make me walk away feeling like this is a good album. And honestly if I’m shutting my review brain off and just enjoying this for what it is, it’s a really good one overall.
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