At their best, Frost Children approximate the feeling of belting Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat” at a K-town karaoke bar. Lulu and Angel Prost aren’t too concerned with pushing the envelope musically, although they’ll throw in some glitches to keep things weird. Their internet-fuelled configuration of Warped tour angst, EDM bombast, and 2010s Top 40—a veritable Triforce of Zoomer musical nostalgia—has amassed a devoted fanbase. On Frost Fest Mixtape, released on their own Purple Label ahead of last weekend’s event at New York’s Knockdown Center, Frost Children feature friends and co-headliners DJH, kuru, ilykimchi, and others finding new sounds in the entropic afterlives of electronic pop. It’s rough around the edges, cutting from jerk to brostep to big-room house, seeming to signal that their commitment to their community remains strong following their recent major label signing.
Last year, however, a traumatic experience with a stalker forced the Prost siblings to rethink their relationship with fame and intimacy. To process, the duo escaped to Tokyo and wrote an EP in an overnight session. Tweaker Poem, also released in July, finds beauty and tragedy in the mind of a parasocial obsessive via cathartic hardstyle drops and Aphex Twin samples (hear “Avril 14th” warped into new emotional heights on “Gutted”). It’s some of their most weighty songwriting, yet also their slickest and most straightforward production. Frost Fest Mixtape is in many ways its antithesis: lo-fi mixing, a fuck-it-we-ball approach to lyrics, and a cast of features that screams yes, the Frost Children are still chill.
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Like the best hangs, Frost Fest Mixtape starts with the buzz of a soon-to-be-passed aux. “Frost Fest Anthem (Ultra ID)” erupts with the redlined force of a Murder Club edit, mangling the duo’s own samples (“FLATLINE,” “Freak It,” “Shake It Like A”) in a maelstrom of sirens, Jersey kicks, and machine-gun fire. California complextro phenom Olswel matches the distorted energy in “i will kill you.”, where the chiptune reggaeton intro serves as Trojan horse for the vitriolic subs that burst after the drop. “Designer Color,” featuring kuru, blurs the line between texture and rhythm, speeding up what sounds like crunchy Jersey club vocal samples into a tectonic rumble.
The mixtape sags when the lo-fi aesthetic gets in the way of the duo’s pop ambitions. The bitcrushed synths of “China Doll” feel limp after the onslaught of the opening track. “On & On” tries its best to be a 2010s international big mega radio smasher, but South Korean hyperpop singer the Deep’s unwieldy hooks get stuck in a muddy morass of supersaws. The monotony of L.A. Working on Dying affiliate ilykimchi’s verse on “I Want You” is papered over with thick layers of reverb, while the Porter Robinson-esque vocal chops do a lot of heavy lifting.
On a project celebrating collaboration and friendship, the most enjoyable song features the most people. “My Little Boyfriend” has Gabriella Turton (the Femcels) doing her best KKB impression over a 16-bit Nikki Nair beat that’s equal parts PS Vita menu theme and Venetian Snares. The soundstage opens up for Blaketheman1000’s chorus so that his so-pathetic-it’s-good hook has room to breathe, then snaps back into center after he’s done. It’s a lot, which is Frost Children’s speciality: peering over the edge of insufferable but never falling in.
