Review of Two Star & The Dream Police by Mk.gee
Mk.gee sounds like an alternate, moodier reality of Phil Collins. Instead of taking up the drums, he chose to destroy guitars for a living. But jokes aside, Mk.gee seems to have created his own sub-genre, one that only a handful of artists can pull off as effectively.
“I like taking cheap, bad gear and trying to make the best song with it, because it forces you to say something interesting and to compensate for poor quality.” – Mk.gee
Distorted and dystopian, those are the first two words that come to mind when trying to describe Mk.gee. His guitar sounds like it’s hanging by a string, weeping as it’s being played. Combine that with his tendency to record with cheap equipment, and you get something instantly recognizable as Mk.gee.
“New Low” is exactly what you want from an opening track. It already shows you what the album will sound like: distorted, filled with synthesizers, and already going off-track in tempo compared to most modern music. The lagging sound builds in intensity through Mk.gee’s vocals, while the guitar is almost impossible to spot.
“Are you rising up? I thought that I lost me”
“After all this time, I couldn’t remember me”
“How Many Miles” layers soft guitar and synthesizers with muffled, bombastic drums, creating a sound much deeper than its individual parts. It paints a picture of a dark sea of sound, with Mk.gee playing his guitar on a boat above it all. What I love most is how his music always feels like a live jam, as if Mk.gee doesn’t know where he’s going either and simply lets the music guide him.
“I never liked the idea of getting lessons from a guitar player, and thought it would be more useful to learn from someone who didn’t play the guitar at all, someone who could give musical lessons that were more exploratory, more about trying things out.” – Mk.gee
“Are You Looking Up” is the first song on the album I would define as a Mk.gee classic. His guitar takes a much more prominent role, and it’s so unconventional that he uses it in a shapeless way, creating sounds a traditional guitar player probably wouldn’t dare to make. He turns it into sharp, plucked riffs with a tempered aggression, while occasionally dropping a single, piercing note into the background. It’s almost like he’s pulling the string to its absolute limit, just before it breaks.
“This one is a slower one. And, I know it’s like stupid but this one means a lot to me,” – Mk.gee
Imagine going to a Mk.gee concert in Minneapolis only to be served “DNM” not once, not twice, but ten times. That’s more than an hour of “DNM,” but he still wasn’t finished. He played “Alesis” once, followed by “DNM” two more times. If you ever had the feeling this guy couldn’t give a shit, this proves it. I just wanted to share this information with you.
“You Got It” has Mk.gee going romantic, but without changing his style to do it. It’s impressive that he can create something so intimate with a sound this distorted, moody, and sad. The big bursts of colourful energy from his synthesizer break through the somber guitar, giving the song little flashes of warmth without ever losing that distinctly Mk.gee sound.
“I like to find new cadences and interesting arrangements, and contextualising different stuff on a guitar with weird production choices.” – Mk.gee
“Rylee & I” turns the distortion up to the maximum, with Mk.gee’s vocals becoming more and more frail as the song progresses. What makes it work so well is that he treats his voice much like his guitar: he pushes both to their absolute limits. Instead of making his vocals sound polished, he lets them crack, strain, and almost fall apart, creating that same authentic, live feeling that makes his guitar playing so distinctive.
“I’ve done some bad, I won’t fake it
I got patterns, don’t think I’ll shake it
Ah, but you fuck up too and that’s fine”
“Candy” follows the same pattern as “Rylee & I”, turning the distortion up while Mk.gee continues to push his guitar playing to its limits. But this is also the track where I first heard that Phil Collins comparison come through. The combination of the riffs and backing synths feels like it could have been pulled straight from the 1980s, teleporting me into a decade I was never even around for and somehow still making me nostalgic for it.
You’re the best thing I know
But late at night, I still question
For somebody who looks so uncaring and distant, barely visible through the mist and distortion at Lowlands 2025, he is surprisingly romantic and caring. “I Want” once again dives into his fear of loving and what it means to be the Mk to his Gee. What really fits the song is his fragile, almost tiptoeing vocal delivery, with cracks running through the performance. An imperfect romance shouldn’t be sung perfectly.
“There’s a little story weaving in through the record, sonically and lyrically. But I guess the whole concept of Two Star and the Dream Police is really supposed to feel like a storybook, you know? There’s supposed to be kind of like this liminal storybook you’re flipping through, sonically and lyrically.” – Mk.gee
I don’t notice a real story, to be honest, mainly because Mk.gee’s vocals are so intertwined with the instrumentals that you sometimes forget he is actually saying words. But that doesn’t matter when the album itself has such a strong identity. Mk.gee constantly shifts between sounds without ever losing what makes the album his.
“Alesis” turns down most of the distortion, making room for warm synthesizers that almost sound like a choir. The guitar is still there, carrying enough reverb and distortion to make it instantly recognizable as Mk.gee, just in a much more relaxed form. Sonically, it sounds like someone hitting metal pipes to create a melody.
“Breakthespell” is the one letdown on the project. It has the distorted guitar and the mood is still dark blue, but it completely misses the energy I love about Mk.gee. Instead, it’s like listening to a slowed-down Joji track.
“I wanted to build a record that’s as minimal as possible and as explosive as possible.” – Mk.gee
“Little Bit More” does just that. It has the slower elements you also hear in “Breakthespell”, but brings back the sharp plucking of the strings, with layered vocals taking center stage. Dark piano playing enhances Mk.gee’s fragile, mumbling vocals, keeping the track minimalistic as he describes it, but still filled with explosive energy. It’s almost like he jumps at you every now and then.
“Dream police” brings the album to a fitting finale. Simple drums, layered vocals, guitar riffs and hidden sound effects create a mystical sound that Mk.gee somehow creates by himself, or with just three people on stage. I fell in love with this mystical figure who doesn’t seem to love attention or being in the spotlight.
Album Artwork
Cover art by Danica Kleinknecht, Nicholas D’Apolito
The album cover fits the music perfectly. The simplistic and moody blue, combined with the aggressive, in your face red lettering, reflects Mk.gee’s idea of building a record that is “as minimal as possible and as explosive as possible.” At first glance, it looks like a carefully staged shot, with Mk.gee playing guitar in a dark forest. His face is covered, leaving the guitar as the main focus, which is also how you often see him perform live. It feels like he wants the music to speak for itself, keeping himself hidden and adding to the mysterious nature of his sound. It might be stage fright, but I think it’s more likely a stylistic choice.
The more you look at it, the more little details start to fit. You can see the capo on his guitar, which adds to that “whatever it takes” approach he has towards creating these sounds. Even more interestingly, the photo was actually taken while Mk.gee was performing one of the tracks from the album. What looks like a carefully constructed album cover is therefore just a moment of him doing what he does best.
Even the moody blue colour wasn't originally there. The photos were taken in daylight and later adjusted into the dark blue you see on the finished cover. It’s such a simple approach, but after listening to Two Star & The Dream Police, it feels like the perfect choice. You just have to love the nature of it.
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