Hex Dealer

Hex Dealer is the debut full-length studio album by American electro-punk band Lip Critic. It was received positively by critics.

Hex Dealer
Studio album by Lip Critic
Released	May 17, 2024 (2024-05-17)
Genre	Digital hardcore[1] electro-punk[2]
Length	31:51
Language	English
Label	Partisan, Universal Music
Lip Critic chronology
Lip Critic II (2020) Hex Dealer (2024)

Reception

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Hex Dealer received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 from 5 critic scores.^[3] Anna Zanes interviewed Lip Critic in Alternative Press and characterized this release as "replete with their trademark manic energy and irreverent ethos" that results in a "dizzying rush that rides on snarky punk spirit, and takes us through 12 dopamine-inducing tracks".^[4] Julia Mason of Clash Music scored this album an 8 out of 10, writing that "Lip Critic have produced an album loaded with imagination and creativity".^[5] Jack Butler-Terry of DIY rated this work 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing that it justified the hype the band has received and it "establishes Lip Critic as ones to watch".^[6] Anagricel Duran of NME scored Hex Dealer 5 out of 5 stars, characterizing it as a "wildly imaginative debut" with songs that are both "freewheeling and fun" and "thrillingly dark".^[7] Grace Robins-Somerville of Paste rated this album a 7.9 out of 10 that combines trenchant critiques of capitalism with being "a silly, goofy album by a silly, goofy band".^[8] That magazine also published a profile of the band by Matt Mitchell that called this release "one of the freakiest, crunchiest, grossest albums of 2024".^[9] Editors at Pitchfork scored this release 7.7 out of 10 and critic Jaeden Pinder called it "a master class in genre-hopping, running the gamut of drum’n’bass, hip-hop, and ska" and praised the band's inclusion of comedy in the lyrics.^[1]

Staff at Consequence of Sound included this among the best albums of May, with Sun Noor writing that it "amplifies the generational struggle for liberation"^[2] and it was ranked 29 on a June 4 list of the best albums of the year so far, where Jonah Krueger called it "aggressive, danceable, and moshable in all the right ways".^[10]

Track listing

Lyrics by Brent Kaser, music by Lip Critic

1. "It’s the Magic" – 4:26
2. "Love Will Redeem You" – 2:33
3. "The Heart" – 2:35
4. "Bork Pelly" – 3:00
5. "Spirit Bomber" – 2:35
6. "Death Lurking" – 3:50
7. "Milky Max" – 2:30
8. "Sermon" – 2:17
9. "I’m Alive" – 1:53
10. "My Wife and the Goblin" – 1:41
11. "In the Wawa (Convinced I Am God)" – 2:19
12. "Toxin Dodger" – 2:12

Personnel

Lip Critic

• Danny Eberle – drums
• Bret Kaser – synthesizer, vocals, mixing
• Connor Kleitz – synthesizer, vocals
• Ilan Natter – drums, mixing

Additional personnel

• Izzy Da Fonseca – vocals on "Death Lurking"
• GhÖst – vocals on "Bork Pelly"
• ID. Sus – vocals on "Bork Pelly"
• Andrew Yanchyshyn – audio mastering

See also

• 2024 in American music
• 2024 in rock music
• List of 2024 albums