The Game Dame™

I’ve been a fan of Dual Core for awhile. I really dug their first two albums, Zero One and Super Powers, so I was really looking forward to checking out the latest: Lost Reality. This disc has 15 tracks and I can honestly say that there’s not a single one on there that I don’t love. And when you consider the fact that this is Dual Core’s third album since 2007, that makes it all the more impressive.

Out of all the times I popped in Lost Reality, the best was last week when I was moving. I’d just collapsed into the truck on the verge of tears after moving a sofa sectional that seemed to weigh somewhere around 500,000 pounds when track 4: Hold On came on. Now, I don’t know that Dual Core intended for this song to provide the motivation I needed to move about 75 more boxes of shit, but it did.

One of the things I admire most about Dual Core is the fact that their beats are original. A lot of Nerdcore artists mix up original video game tunes and rap to mildly modified beats, but Dual Core raises the bar by sampling very little – typically not even video game music – to create the beats that make your car go boom. int eighty is the one responsible for writing the lyrics to c64’s beats and in the liner notes, he even comments that c64 “put so much personality and soul into the beats of the album that it required the songs to be introspective.”

Then there’s part two of why I really like Dual Core: their appreciation for their fans. Track number 11 is completely dedicated to those who have supported the band over the years. I even get a little shout out in there at 2:10 (thanks, guys.)

The album has a wide variety of tracks with well written lyrics that really make you think. It’s not just rap about video games and jokes for geeks (although those are in there, too.) Track number 8 – Lost Reality gives us a little anti-Bush greatness and challenges listeners to wake up and start paying attention to what’s going on around them.

It’s hard to pick a favorite from this disc – which is good… but if I were forced to choose, I’d have to say it’s “My Girlfriend Is…” a true love story about int eighty’s lovely lady who – on Valentine’s day – used her mad hacker skills to post a love note on the top of each site in his RSS reader. Nerd love!!! Nothin’ quite like it.

If YOU haven’t experienced nerd love yet, grab yourself a copy of Lost Reality. There’s not a bad track in the bunch. There’s not even a “meh, ’sokay” track in the bunch. It’s strong from beginning to end and something you should be proud to add to your collection.

Check out samples from all album tracks»
Buy Lost Reality for just $10»
Add Dual Core on MySpace»