Steve 'Flash' JuonI’ll be the first to admit a RapReviews write up can be self-referential, but if you don’t know who The Jet Age of Tomorrow is, how else am I going to explain Pyramid Vritra? He was (and maybe still is) one half of the group alongside Matt Martians, both being part of the extended Odd Future family. The story of Jet Age is not unlike the story of Odd Future itself. As the profiles of Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt have continued to rise, the profile of other members has continued to shrink, and even Tyler and Earl’s “membership” is a matter of conjecture based on friendship. There’s very little activity from the group as a collective, and it’s unfair to expect it would’ve gone any other way. OFWGKTA started when they were all young men. People change as they grow older. The music industry also tends to understand/prefer to promote solo acts over large groups. It’s easier to package and commodify single individuals as opposed to a diverse ensemble cast.
Pyramid Vritra (real name Hal Williams) thus has the unenviable position of being part of two groups that are inactive to the point of being defunct. The last official Jet Age album was in 2017, and Matt Martians indicated there were no plans for any more. Tyler said the same thing about Odd Future in 2020. Happily Williams has not tied himself to the legacy of either one with his work. He’s incredibly prolific to the point I could review an album every week from now through the rest of 2024 and not come close to covering his catalogue. Choosing “The Story of Marsha Lotus” was the act of throwing a non-existent dart at an unseen dartboard. I could start anywhere so I’ll start here.
“Marsha Lotus” dates back to a time when both Odd Future and Jet Age were still active, but it’s clear that even in 2012 Williams felt it necessary to assert his own identity. Then as now I’m not sure how much Tyler’s more “alpha male” demo understood or appreciated that identity. Even if you enjoy his work and appreciate how he’s matured over the years, there’s no denying that early on Tyler leaned hard into the idea of being controversial. Songs like “Walter Flower’s Technicolor Pyramids” couldn’t be more the opposite. The production and the lyrics are Starbucks music. Karens can sip latte to this. Even when he says “I hate you, I don’t like you” it’s delivered in the most non-threatening way possible. It’s a confession and not an angry diatribe. From there the massive 18 minute track changes styles and mood to a mixture of guitar rock and Andre 3000-esque singing. It’s all over the place.
It’s probably easier to digest something like “Surround,” clocking in at just under four minutes and featuring no vocals at all. Even Vritra’s own Bandcamp page describes the genre as “experimental,” although in this case I’d describe it as “PlayStation background music.” Recorded 15 years after that console’s high water mark in North America, it’s just long enough removed for that sound to have become nostalgic, and this would have been perfect in any fighting game or JRPG from the era. If I was enough of a coder to make a game I’d probably just license it to use in a boss fight myself. Maybe Williams is even for hire to produce video game music. Who knows?
When you classify yourself as experimental it’s easy to get away with having a song called “Untitled” featuring someone I haven’t heard of before or since — the unknown KC 2.0. His vocals neither add nor subtract from the Pyramid Vritra experience. They are just another piece of the puzzle for a man who much like Frank Ocean refused to be defined by some of the more macho antics of his comrades. “The Story of Marsha Lotus” is that good kind of weird. It’s not made for the radio, nor for Odd Future fans, nor for mainstream consumption. It’s definitely an art-house album made for hipsters and pot smokers to trip to. As my man Husk once said on Hazbin Hotel, “Baby that’s fine by me.”