The album kicks off with “MO$hpit!” and right away, you know this isn’t going to be a normal rap album. To start out, the production is designed to sound harsh and aggressive, not clean and surgical like most hip-hop productions, almost like it’s coming through deliberately damaged speakers. The vocals switch between aggressive rapping on the verses and deep growls for the chorus, setting the scene for the dual sound that BruceBan$hee embodies.

“BadLove” is a great example of how there is depth underneath all the noise; there’s a real look at toxic relationships and emotional struggles. The way the song is put together feels like you’re inside someone’s head as things start to fall apart.

“CtrlAltDel” is probably the most straightforward trap-style track on the album. The aggressive and harsh punk sounds take a back seat. Giving BruceBan$hee room to go all out with the lyrical wordplay and rhyming schemes.

The heart of the album shows up on “Stillsadcobain.” The nods to grunge here feel real, not just for show. There’s a haunting vibe that brings back the best of ‘90s alt-rock, but it’s mixed with something new (mainly the drums, which are very trap-esque here). This track connects the heavier parts of the album with its more thoughtful, introspective side by acting as a bridge between two almost pure alt-rap songs on the album “CtrlAtlDel” and “CrazyRaps!!”.

“Ride or Die” on the other hand, strips away all of the grit and chaos for vulnerability, disappointment, and bitterness. The production style here shifts to create a more intimate, pristine space for the vocals, which have a hint of aggression bubbling under the surface instead of the all-out attack of other tracks.

“SuperGod” and “PullUp”  provide the resolution needed after such an intense rollercoaster ride. “SuperGod” questions the very concept of heroism in a world that seems beyond salvation and or redemption, while “PullUp” serves as the musical resolution with the album graduating to a full-on punk guitar-driven sound to bring it all home.

What BruceBan$hee managed to achieve here is creating the illusion of chaos. That’s, in my opinion, the most impressive thing about “4th Wall” is how he manages to maintain artistic control while appearing to completely lose it on the surface. This is methodical chaos, where every moment of apparent randomness serves the larger narrative. Because chaos is critical to tell the story here. Not chaos for the sake of it.

“4th Wall” is aggressive, experimental, and occasionally difficult to digest, but that’s exactly the point. This is art that refuses to behave, and in a landscape of increasingly sanitized music, that rebellion feels essential, and it’s what punk and alternative music are all about.

Their debut EP, Prequels, is dark, yet optimistic. Mysterious yet fun. The bittersweet opening track, “Apple Blue,” sets the mood with a feeling of isolation and loneliness. “The title puts me in a neo-noir film headspace. It’s like a David Lynch version of a heavy song,” says Parsons. 

This road to glossy and gritty darkwavey goodness was augmented by producers/mixers John Fryer and Mark Needham (who mixed the debut Killers album, Hot Fuss) and the guidance of Ted Sablay (touring guitarist with The Killers), giving the songs a slick and heavy delivery.

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Their song, “Curtain,” is about a person being infatuated with someone, and not being able to do anything about it. Parsons was drawn to the symbolism of a curtain and the visual of a curtain closing at the end of a play. Thus, the storyline of the song became a fictional play, in which one character is battling for the affection of another character.

Once the song was written, Ctrl+V sought the guidance of Ted Sablay for feedback (touring guitarist with The Killers and a mentor of Parsons), and had the song mixed by Mark Needham (who mixed The Killers’ debut album, Hot Fuss).

“This song is more or less a ballad, but it’s produced like a heavy/hard-rock song,” says Parsons. “That production style is what Ctrl+V is all about… we take really sweet, romantic, glittery sounds and serve them up heavy.”

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