So for this review, I'm going to try something new and somewhat interesting. I'm going to listen to the entire album all the way through, and write about my first impression of every song. I figure this will be more entertaining than just droning on about songs that I like. I'd reccomend finding your own download of it, so you can listen as you read along. There is a link to mine at the bottom, but I'm not sure how much longer it'll be up. Oh, and please let me know if you think I should do album reviews like this in the future.New York-based industrial hip-hop band Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI) is one of the most interesting bands I've ever come across. They mix odd beeping noises, metal-sounding instruments, and lead singer Little Jimmy Urine's fast-talking falsetto voice to make a sound like no other. They've been one of my favorites for a few years now, and I was lucky enough to come across this leaked album that isn't out until Tuesday.
Track 1-"Never Wanted to Dance": Oooh, I like the opening song. It gets you interested in the album, just like "Shut Me Up" did on the last one. I love the bass drum beat in the background. Ah, Jimmy is doing his classic falsetto and fast speaking bit. I wonder if that's a drum machine? The guitar riff vaugely reminds me of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." Weird. I like it, though.
Track 2-"Evening Wear": He sounds like he is trying to make his voice go deeper than it should. I love the drum machine on this one. "I've dressed myself in fucking lies" is a nifty lyric. Now he's talking about losing innocence. Word up, Jimmy Urine, word up.
Track 3-"Lights Out": Woah. This is weird for them. Sounds almost like industrial synth-punk. Are those violins I hear "plinking" in the background? Once again, weird for them. And clapping? Shit. It's about as far from themselves they can get, but it's still MSI-ish.
Track 4-"Prescription": Oh, a song about meds. "Over the counter, fill the prescription." I wonder if when he says "I'm the doctor, I'm the patient" if he's referring to himself in both instances, implying that he self-medicates? And now he's talking about doing drugs before the show. He doesn't need them, then he does. That's classic addict behavior.
Track 5-"Issues": Interesting noises in the opening. Kissy mouth-popping. I don't really like this so far. I don't like how every sentence ends in "uhhhh." Ha! "Excuse me, do you want to screw? I'm so amazing in the sack." I love that line, to be honest. Nice synth solo too. With a Vocoder! This is a prime example of how some songs start out terrible, but end pretty decently.
Track 2-"Evening Wear": He sounds like he is trying to make his voice go deeper than it should. I love the drum machine on this one. "I've dressed myself in fucking lies" is a nifty lyric. Now he's talking about losing innocence. Word up, Jimmy Urine, word up.
Track 3-"Lights Out": Woah. This is weird for them. Sounds almost like industrial synth-punk. Are those violins I hear "plinking" in the background? Once again, weird for them. And clapping? Shit. It's about as far from themselves they can get, but it's still MSI-ish.
Track 4-"Prescription": Oh, a song about meds. "Over the counter, fill the prescription." I wonder if when he says "I'm the doctor, I'm the patient" if he's referring to himself in both instances, implying that he self-medicates? And now he's talking about doing drugs before the show. He doesn't need them, then he does. That's classic addict behavior.
Track 5-"Issues": Interesting noises in the opening. Kissy mouth-popping. I don't really like this so far. I don't like how every sentence ends in "uhhhh." Ha! "Excuse me, do you want to screw? I'm so amazing in the sack." I love that line, to be honest. Nice synth solo too. With a Vocoder! This is a prime example of how some songs start out terrible, but end pretty decently.
Track 6-"Get It Up": Another song about drugs, from the sound of it. Shocking! He wants to make babies, you horny, and money, apparently. He can't get it up. Erectile dysfunction? Hell yes! That spoken word thing in the middle of the song is fucking epic. He goes: "Oh, Jesus, ha. I-I've never had this problem before it's just uh...hold on a second, give it a minute. Just give it a minute, give it a minute, alright? Uh, do something sexy! I don't care, do something sexy! Whatever you do, don't talk about your fucking boyfriend while we're having sex, how about that?!" Holy shit. I love that part. Now he's talking about it being the girl's fault, not his. Definitely funny.
Track 7-"Revenge": What the hell is this? Cheerleading? Woah. I like that segway, with all the clapping and what not. It was kinda boring though, and repeated itself too much.
Track 7-"Revenge": What the hell is this? Cheerleading? Woah. I like that segway, with all the clapping and what not. It was kinda boring though, and repeated itself too much.
Track 8-"Animal": If I remember correctly, this is the first video/single. I don't really like it all that much so far. I mean, it's alright, but it doesn't blow me away as a single. I DO like the ending noises though.
Track 9-"Mastermind": I like the opening so far. This sounds familiar though, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe I listened to it without realizing it? The chorus sounds really really really really familar. Deja vu for sure. This is one of the most hip-hop songs I've ever heard by them. It even has beatboxing.
Track 10-"On It": This album is so much more techno-y than anything they've ever released. I really like this song. Fast-paced and cool-sounding. The background drum beat sounds like something out of "Stomp." I love this song.
Track 11-"Pay For It": Piano opening. Not MSI-ish. I'm not complaining, but still. "I don't want you to hate me, I want you to want to hate me." Fucking amazing quote. He sure does swear a lot in this song. Ugh, he just changed the quote to "date me" in the last part. Eh.
Track 12-"Due": The beat seems like it's too sluggish, then it speeds up. Kind of a cool effect. He makes a lot of noises on this album, like the "dadadadadadas" on this song. You know, things to the beat that aren't real words. The guitar is tuned funny too.
Track 13-"Money": Whaaaat the hell? Whistling? Rock-ish guitar? Clapping? I was almost hoping this would be a cover of the Pink Floyd song, like how they covered "Tom Sawyer" by Rush on the last album. "Mon-nayyy!" That's cute.
Track 10-"On It": This album is so much more techno-y than anything they've ever released. I really like this song. Fast-paced and cool-sounding. The background drum beat sounds like something out of "Stomp." I love this song.
Track 11-"Pay For It": Piano opening. Not MSI-ish. I'm not complaining, but still. "I don't want you to hate me, I want you to want to hate me." Fucking amazing quote. He sure does swear a lot in this song. Ugh, he just changed the quote to "date me" in the last part. Eh.
Track 12-"Due": The beat seems like it's too sluggish, then it speeds up. Kind of a cool effect. He makes a lot of noises on this album, like the "dadadadadadas" on this song. You know, things to the beat that aren't real words. The guitar is tuned funny too.
Track 13-"Money": Whaaaat the hell? Whistling? Rock-ish guitar? Clapping? I was almost hoping this would be a cover of the Pink Floyd song, like how they covered "Tom Sawyer" by Rush on the last album. "Mon-nayyy!" That's cute.
Track 14-"Bomb This Track": Hell yes! Old school-sounding MSI. I love it when you can hardly understand what he's saying because he's talking so fast. It makes it a challenge, almost like a game. I think it's cool when they break the "fourth wall" (wiki it) and mention the song that they are currently singing; like how he says to "bomb this track."
Track 15-"Mark David Chapman": It's interesting that an MSI song would be named after John Lennon's killer. I guess they did have a song named "Harry Truman," so whatever. The opening almost sounds music-box-y. I like the bass line though. Spanish? Weird. Jimmy speaks Spanish on some songs, so I guess it's okay. Lots of voice samples in this song. Well, three so far. I enjoy this song. More fucking Spanish. Woah, the vocorder says "Mark Chap-man." That bit about Hitler is cool. And it now sounds like 18th-century British music. "Reginald, release the hounds." It ends on birds chirping. What a strange song.
Overall: I liked it. Not their best album, but definitely a good one. I might buy the deluxe edition with Jhonen Vasquez art and a DVD. The British version has 5 extra songs, which is bullshit. Ugh. Hate it when they do that. I'll have to download them.
You can stream the entire album from their Myspace page, located here:
http://www.myspace.com/mindlessselfindulgence
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