There’s a fine line between trippy and tacky, and The Hogstad Brothers are toeing it like a pair of Brooklynites on a psychedelic bender. Their latest single, “Worth It,” is a love song wrapped in irony, dipped in distortion, and smothered in auto-tune. It’s got that hazy, late-night, “maybe I should text my ex” kind of vibe—equal parts intoxicating and questionable.
From the jump, the track leans into a warped, woozy aesthetic. The auto-tuned vocals stretch and bend like some kind of lo-fi, emo Travis Scott fever dream, flipping between crooned melodies and slightly off-kilter harmonies. There’s an undeniable catchiness to it, the kind that worms its way into your subconscious even if you’re not entirely sure if you likeit yet. The growling bassline gives the song some much-needed grit, while the buttery guitar licks cut through the murk just enough to keep things interesting. There’s a hypnotic, almost slurred rhythm to the whole thing—like the beat is dragging its feet in the best way possible.
And then there’s the autotune. Not just a little, not just for effect—this is full-blown, robotic, love-drenched madness. It’s the kind of heavy-handed processing that makes you wonder if it’s intentional satire or just a product of the times. The melody itself is strong enough that it probably didn’t need all the vocal warping, but the brothers are clearly going all-in on their aesthetic. It works… mostly. But there are moments where the over-processing dulls the emotion rather than enhancing it.
There’s no sugarcoating, no fairytale romance—just the acceptance that love is messy, imperfect, and still worth it. It’s a concept that could have veered into full-on parody, but The Hogstad Brothers play it just straight enough to keep it authentic.
The psychedelic, emo-rap, alt-pop mashup is a bold choice, and while it occasionally leans too hard into its own gimmicks, there’s no denying that The Hogstad Brothers are onto something. A little more restraint on the production could have made this a knockout, but as it stands, it’s a compelling, strange, and oddly charming ride.
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