THE HYBRIS, a masked virtual trio—Ringo Rabbit, Beanie Bison, and Malcolm Mandrill—posing as superhero wannabes, drop their new album “t h r e e.” They claim a mission to save the world with tunes. It’s alt-rock, doused with punk sneer, a splash of 80s neon, and enough stadium-rock ambition to make Bono blush. But does it soar?
Well. This record digs its claws deep, like a cat with an existential crisis. Each track of “t h r e e” screams a diatribe about the “arrogance and downfall of modern times.” The lyrics? Picture a gladiator arena, except instead of lions, there are corporate logos and stock market tickers, with employees scrambling for glory in the downfall of the capitalist system. The guys expose the ruthless game, all these songs show ambition and the hunger for power, played inside that relentless, dehumanizing system. It’s…heavy. Almost so relentlessly dark that I feel inside a Kafkaesque dystopia.
And yet… There’s an undeniable surge of energy, that defiant pulse running through the 12 songs that compose “t h r e e”. This album feels like finding a rogue fireworks display in the middle of a tax audit. Characters are depicted caught in the hamster wheel of success, reduced to strategies, risking it all. Even talking about failure and market crashes, amidst manipulation and never-ending pressure, the feeling remains the same. You kind of want to smash something, and then maybe start a revolution? Or, at the very least, write a strongly worded letter to your local politician. It is weirdly exhausting.
Musically, it jumps around. It brings the critical commentary on power’s circus and its relentless pursuit, along with the cost of humans. There’s that unexpected kazoo solo—wait, was that a kazoo?—that somehow feels right. It is a blend of celebration amidst chaos. And a call to fight.
Ultimately, “t h r e e” leaves you in a state of concerned reflection: is this the soundtrack to our impending doom, or a wake-up call we desperately needed? Or, maybe the question we are implicitly asked is “What flavor of apocalypse are we going for today?”
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