{"product_id":"theft_world","title":"Theft World","description":"\u003cp\u003eTheft World is the third studio album by Brooklyn-based experimental band Lip Critic, released on May 1, 2026, via Partisan Records. The record grew out of a stranger-than-fiction incident: as Stereogum describes it, frontman Bret Kaser's identity was stolen and used to make hundreds of fraudulent purchases, including — in an apparent taunt — the band's entire Bandcamp discography. When the alleged thief showed up at a Lip Critic merch table weeks later, grinning behind a surgical mask and reciting Kaser's Social Security number, he claimed to be a fan who believed hacking Kaser was a hidden puzzle embedded in the music. Whether true or not, the story prompted the band to scrap their existing album-in-progress and start fresh on a record about online obsession, fractured identity, and theft as a pervasive modern condition — political, digital, and emotional all at once. All vocals on the record were performed by Kaser and his girlfriend Izzy, as confirmed in the band's Reddit AMA.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcross 11 tracks and just under 31 minutes, Theft World builds on the chaotic foundation of the band's 2024 Partisan debut Hex Dealer — which earned comparisons to \"the B-52s on ketamine\" from Paste — while tightening and deepening its focus. The sonic engine remains the same: two drummers locked in psychic combat, a sampler that sounds like it was struck by lightning, and Kaser's paranoid preacher energy, pulling together club rhythms, hardcore breakdowns, industrial hip-hop, and digital hardcore in a way that Partisan Records describes as drawing equally from Tyler the Creator's Igor, Korn, Skrillex, and Soul Coughing. Where Hex Dealer felt like a series of absurdist vignettes, Theft World plays as a more locked-in, coherent transmission. Stereogum named it Album of the Week, calling it \"a funhouse-mirror portrait of a modern society run by scammers,\" populated by \"naive schmucks, desperate fools, and people chasing the promise of stimulation straight off a cliff.\" Anthony Fantano's channel awarded it an 8\/10, highlighting tracks including \"Two Lucks,\" \"Jackpot,\" \"Debt Forest,\" \"Charity Dinner,\" \"My Blush (Strength of the Critic),\" \"Shoplifting,\" and \"Yard Sale (230 Take).\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Record Store","offers":[{"title":"CD \/ Album","offer_id":53536298041658,"sku":"38116","price":16.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Vinyl \/ Album - Silver Metallic Vinyl","offer_id":53536298074426,"sku":"38117","price":31.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/2041\/0682\/files\/Screenshot_2026-05-29_at_12.04.27_PM.jpeg?v=1780070881","url":"https:\/\/recordstore.ca\/products\/theft_world","provider":"Record Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}