album review: attention shoppers - nero's day at disneyland (2006)
26 sep 2026
this album is one that i've absolutely loved for the past year, and i also think that it's historically important and deserves to be written about. the problem is though, if i write this review, nobody will ever take recommendations from me ever again.
attention shoppers is abrasive, obnoxious, and makes a lot of choices that seem to be straight up trolling. even the author of this album no longer lists it (though that could be for another reason which i'll get into later.) and yet, especially on a re-listen, it's really good. if you couldn't tell from the title and the cover, the concept is a critique of consumerist culture. i'm going to describe the experience of listening to it in order, because it's one of those albums.
attention shoppers - nero's day at disneyland (2006)
shijurui burning opens with a pretty catchy waltz which builds up to, like, bowser's castle. it's quite catchy but eventually one starts to wonder if this album is going to have any songs in it, or if it's just atmospheric video game soundtracks. just as you are wondering this, it breaks into a fantastic garage rock instrumental that wouldn't sound out of place in the scott pilgrim movie. but then once you're happy about that, the garage rock devolves into the sound of a thousand chittering locusts, only barely managing to pull itself back together to repeat that catchy riff. when this song ends, the guitar rings out, giving you a few seconds to wonder what the hell is coming next.
lmao what the hell godzilla take your mask off answers that lingering question with "midi drums played like someone's being shot with a machine gun". and, uh... is this the vocal style we're going to get for the whole album? oh... ok. it's not bad though - the chiptune bassline is reminiscent of spider dance by toby fox. the instrumental break at 0:33 is delightfully catchy.
lost in bonerland is spiritually the single of this album, and if the fast-paced previous song made me question whether i was in the mood for this album today, this one is more groovy so now i'm definitely having fun. it opens with a riff that sounds like a disc grinder trying to pursue a musical career. this combined with the marching drums makes me crank the volume up every time i get to this point in the album. the vocals are mercifully slightly less like mickey mouse than before; maybe this is someone raging against the machine rather than the machine itself. then we have a midi piano solo that is played at all the same volume like a gcse composition project, but this is clever ruse because it's actually a really well written solo. the grinding riff comes back in, and now the drums introduce a deliciously loud tom groove. then the song grinds to a halt, and we get a creepy little piano solo like freddy fazbear is outside your door. ooh, nevermind, it's building up again...
the bridge of lost in bonerland is phenomenal, and now i'm REALLY cranking the volume. this is why i love this album and you either get it or you don't bro i don't know what to say. honestly the obnoxious four crash cymbals at the end of every line is the only reason i wouldn't play this song at a party.
now that lost in bonerland is over and you've hopefully been convinced that this album is good, putting lipstick on the holes they bore into us comes along to test your patience, this time opening with the sound of an army of cockroaches with guns. but it's quite catchy in the end, and it ends with a tasty little sparkly synth sound that leaves you anticipating more.
the constant sound of someone banging on your front door with a shoe in moonage daydream also seems carefully calibrated to be annoying but it doesn't work on me at all. if you could scoop out all the distortion and strange rhythms, this would be a pretty successful pop song, the chorus is so catchy. i think this is really what makes the whole album work: all of the craziness, all of the seemingly deliberate attempts to be annoying are in service of some actually great songwriting chops. there's barely a sound in this album that i don't think is catchy and memorable, even the stupid ones.
all that banging must have done some damage to the front door, because oroboros cackling outdoes the other songs by opening with the sound of a clown car driving through your door to give you a surprise birthday party. but again, wouldn't this chorus be a successful rock song?? the catchiness is inescapable.
HAHAHA FUCK a theme for a molting russian gentleman is even worse. this album really raises your tolerance for annoying sounds and then makes the next sound even worse. this song is the only one i still don't like on a relisten.
now we're back to the distorted garage rock, but this time the glass ceiling cabaret opens with a crazed drum break. like lost in bonerland, the vocals here are slightly less mickey mouse and slightly more relatable in parts. i'm on this person's side, especially in the bridge, where... is it just me, or might this be this person's actual singing voice? "take a look at your hands, you can take it all back". given the bleak outlook of the rest of the album so far, i hope to god this is true. i feel... inspired.
the b-side
this is a short album so it doesn't actually have a b-side, but i consider new rooms spiritually the start of a b-side. here the catchy "pop" "songs" get sparser, and though i have no proof, i think it was trying to be annoying on purpose before and it's not trying to be annoying anymore. instead, new rooms is an atmospheric instrumental track that evokes images of fighting to survive in a strange place.
brand x is another catchy pop song, but again, now the album isn't testing us anymore, it's speaking to us. like don't get me wrong it's still full of horrible little sounds, but it feels more restrained now, somehow. this isn't one of my favourite tracks, but it's definitely catchy.
here we live one baba at a time is another atmospheric instrumental. this one is DEFINITELY bowser's castle. perhaps we're getting closer to the Mouse.
steal softly under castle walls brings back the vocals, and it's relatively soft but extremely foreboding. i'd probably never listen to this one outwith the album, but i really enjoy reaching this part of the album. the bridge is especially great.
wrapped around the pole, another softer instrumental, is the most accessible track yet, and very video game-y. the piano solo in the middle reminds me of homestuck (though it predates it). this track isn't bad at all, but it maybe slightly overstays its welcome for me - i want to know what happens next!
if you've listened to the whole album, the new romans is your glorious reward. this song exemplifies everything i've been saying throughout this whole review: that nero's day at disneyland is incredible at writing catchy riffs, and no matter what horrible sounds they use in their palette, it's somehow still enjoyable. the vocals are frenzied and the song drives forwards like a crowd of people crashing into you. the breakcore bridge is one of my favourite parts of any piece of music ever, and the end is loud and crashing and everything you'd expect from this album. it's great.
theme for a chase scene architecture ends the album on an ominous note with a sort of nightmare remembering of tom and jerry. it sounds like something you half-remember, should remember, before it's too late1. the new romans felt like the real end of this album, this is just the aftermath. everything is crumbling.
megan, i hate this album, why did you tell me it was good
listen, i've genuinely enjoyed this album countless times over the last two years. i've said it a few times now, but i think the songwriting is genuinely fantastic. all the catchy little riffs, the interesting way that the songs are structured and flow into each other, a lot of craft was involved in this album. yes, the sounds are loud, and annoying, and obnoxious, but they make me feel something, whether that's laughing at why someone would put that in there, or genuinely just loving being along for the ride. maybe my brain is broken, but for me this isn't even a "so bad it's good" thing, it's just good.
let's also recognise that this album is also insanely ahead of its time. all the clowncore/weirdcore kids of the 2020s would go mad for something like this, and it was written in 2006! have you heard anything like it before or since? don't you think if it came out this year, people would be saying its crazy experimentation and anti-consumerist anger suits the current moment perfectly?
i do feel a little guilty promoting it though, since even its own artist doesn't promote it anymore. nero's day at disneyland is a solo project by lauren bousfield, who came out as transgender a couple of albums later, and this is the only one of their albums that really has any vocals on it, so that's probably it. lauren bousfield, if you're reading this, i'll take this review down if you want me to. but this album has a fire in it that i haven't heard anywhere else, and i think it deserves some love that's more than just "wow this is soo experimental".
maybe i'll review something next time that's not full of mickey mouse and machine guns, but no promises.
until next time,
mzw☆
^1 though it actually does sound a bit like thin ice from club penguin...
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