Cold Court’s "Backslang" Blends Skrillex and 100 Gecs Influences

11:03 AM EDT on May 11, 2026

Mini Serrano and Jojo Lavina-Maldonado, the two siblings who make up the Philadelphia duo Cold Court, say that they "grew up on Skrillex and 100 gecs," and I am fine with that. I'm psyched about it, honestly. I've been old for years . I felt old when people were talking about growing up on Fall Out Boy. Now, you're old, too. Welcome to hell, motherfucker.

Cold Court make the kind of music that you could only really make if you grew up on stuff like Skrillex and 100 gecs. It's a twisty, fascinating noise-pop that seems to draw influence from anywhere and everywhere. The duo's new EP \ (^_^) / comes out next month, and we've already posted lead single " Burn ." Today, they share "Backslang," a freaked-out stomper with huge drums and guitars and with brain-scrambling synth-noises that jump out from every direction. It reminds me of MSPAINT, and I mean that as a big compliment. Here's what Mini Serrano says about it:

"Backslang" is this indirect conversation between me and Jojo. We had been arguing about which of us should sing it. I felt he should, since he would whenever we played the song live, but seemingly out of nowhere he asked me to "feel it out" instead. I wrote the lyrics kinda mocking him as part of this argument to see if he'd notice. He didn't. I love this song because it captures the way we work together really accurately — we’re super emo and take a lot from each other and put each other through a lot.

Check it out below.

The self-released \ (^_^) / is out 6/19.

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_Originally reported by [Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2498607/cold-court-backslang/music/)._