Track of the Week: Lip Critic go ballistic over blackjack on ‘Jackpot’
By the very definition of the phrase, there shouldn’t be any boundaries to what can be considered to be punk, and whatever it is New York foursome Lip Critic are doing, it certainly feels as though this would be an apt description of their ethos.
With their second album, Theft World, due in May via Partisan, their latest material feels as though they’ve dialled up the chaos from what was heard on their debut album, Hex Dealer, with ‘Jackpot’ being no exception to the rules, or lack of them.
The terse miasma that they bring into every song might feel alienating to first-time listeners, and the way in which they toy with form and genre is the sort of thing that might be headache-inducing to someone not versed in the more experimental side of rock music, but if you’re down to be perturbed by a boisterous collage of ideas, then ‘Jackpot’ is as good a place to start in their discography as any.
There are plenty of other acts with whom they share fragments of a sonic DNA, with the rhythmic complexity and franticness of fellow New Yorkers YHWH Nailgun being an instantly obvious point of reference, especially with the use of the resonant high-tuned snare drums. At the same time, across the other side of the same city, the rap-influenced vocal delivery of hardcore outfits like Show Me The Body also shines through, as do the madcap electronic stylings of experimental titans like Death Grips.
It’s this immediate intensity that brings their brief blasts of discordant noise to life, and the utilisation of glitchy samples are a truly integral part of the havoc they wreak. On this particular track, it’s the sounds of arcades and casinos that are plastered all over the song, which not only compliment the song’s name and themes, but help to portray the entirety of the gambling industry as this sinister enterprise that will only ever haunt you.
Where their previous outings have occasionally fallen short of their potential as a result of their creative lawlessness becoming a greater focus than structure and coherence, they appear to have found a healthy middle ground where the electronic disarray sits well alongside the maniacal delivery of the rest of the band rather than finding themselves in constant battle for the spotlight.
As with all experimental music, it’s hard for an act to come crashing out of the gates with their most concise work, given how it takes a lengthy commitment to the process to be able to establish just how far things ought to be pushed.
However, in the space of a few short years, Lip Critic have begun to prove themselves as one of the most formidable experimental acts on the circuit, and ‘Jackpot’ might be their most gripping statement of a song to date. If they can manage to continue to find this balance between cohesion and complete sonic bedlam over the course of Theft World, then it’s sure to be one of the most captivating listens that 2026 has to offer.
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