Upon first hearing Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI), I immediately wanted to learn more about them. And when I had done so, I knew I had somehow failed. How could music this good have eluded me for 7 years? I realized it was time to stop telling people I was into industrial music, since clearly I couldn’t be without hearing of these guys.
They’re super-catchy industrial/electro/DJ/hip-hop brilliance. The lyrics are out there, kinda self-deprecating, ironic, tongue-in-cheek rambling. But I really dig the energetic vocals of frontman Little Jimmy Urine. Uh, yeah, that’s his stage name, only to be topped by other band member “Steve, Righ?” (sic). My only criticism is that they can be a bit repetitive, as there’s not a ton of variation between songs. Well, they’ve got their style and they’re sticking to it. And there’s plenty of remixes to go around, from some of the coolest industrial bands (Front 242, KMFDM, FLA, and many others).
They’re compared to… well, who cares? Thanks to the wonderous glory of YouTube, I shall regale you with hand picked videos, allowing you to judge for yourself. I’ve moved them to the “more” section, partly because they’re not safe for work (well, maybe if you have headphones), but mostly to make the page load faster (and not have your workplace think you’re visiting YouTube).
BTW, they’re touring on the east coast, including Asbury Park and Philly.
The vids:
Shut Me Up, probably their most “popular” right now. Cool video.
Cover of Big Poppa by Notorious B.I.G. (from the Shut Me Up EP)
Bite Your Rhymes, set to the anime Mezzo Forte (I’ll have to check that out someday, too)
Concert video for Bitches. I’m not big on concert videos, but it’s a good song, and you take what you can get on YouTube.
I remember when I first came across them through the usual cross-reference methods of finding something new.
However whenever I brough them up, people kind of shrugged them off as being… you know… not to be taken seriously.
It’s that “tounge-in-cheek” quality that got me to notice them in the first place. Why is this a bad thing? They are HIGHLY creative and sound awesome. What’s the problem?
You’d think that I’d start to care less about other’s opinions in music after all these years.
Keep up the good research.
Wow.
My only gripe is that this may have pushed me over the edge, and I will likely cry myself to sleep. Just today while working in the shop I made a comment to the younger guys questioning why nobody was putting out any good rock anymore. The radio was playing an old Van Halen song, and it was just so much better than the crap most groups put out IN MY OPINION. See, that is the problem, I think my opinion is just that of an old dude. These guys (Mindless Self Indulgence) just made me realize that the young, hip, tallented musicians are just not making music for ME anymore. I guess I should feel better being that I only know that my time has passed because I enjoyed something new (they really do sound good), but that isn’t much of a consolation. More likely, I just am now the old guy who will inappropriately go to concerts with people who are too young for me to legally have sex with, be buying CDs that the folks at the record store assume are for my children, and where T-shirts that only come in my size because young kids are just fat little piggies, god bless them.
On second though, maybe it is possible that the future of music is actually so damn exciting that I should ignore any age related depression and take this a sign that the future will rock, HARD.
Is it possible that in the future, talented musicians will be able to present their music to the world, where we can actually enjoy it?
Is it possible that I will not have to listen to the same crap over and over if I turn on the radio? Will musicians who are not beautiful be given a chance at success that was otherwise only presented to those that looked good but had little to no talent?
Will my access to good music truly be limited by my own desire to explore (and the taste of my friends), rather than the crap that the music industry shovels down my throat? Sure, there has always been “independent music”, but today on all the radio stations calling themselves that, it means Green Day, not MSI or Arctic Monkeys. Yeah, there has always been that underground source, but maybe in the future, that music could include something that would appeal to people who don’t have anything to get all “angsty” about.
Yep, I think I will actually take this as a sign that the pinheads who have been deciding what we should like for the last 20 years have finally lost control of what I get to buy, and I am just betting on there being enough people with taste similar to mine to revive ROCK AND FREAKIN ROLL!!! Sorry Britney and Kevin, your shit just doesn’t matter anymore, so you best get working on that sex tape.
I was prepared to do a long rant, inspired by these insightful comments. But I ran out of angst, so I’ll just be to the point.
ZB, I don’t know who these “others” are, but my guess is that they are driven by insecurity. I’ve read reviews that love to point out that bands like MSI and Slipknot are loved by suburban kids, and that’s a reason to either not take them seriously, or be surprised that they’re good. I’m sure you realize that most of TCT were once suburban kids, and we were fucking brilliant. (Those agents who were urban or rural kids? Also brilliant.). I think it’s a smokescreen put up because they’re getting older, and they’re tastes are changing away from cool, hard music to the softer stuff. I know my horizons are definitely expanding as I get older. Or maybe they were never into the hard stuff, and they feel left out. Regardless, it’s an extremely weak form of criticism, a lazy criticism, to judge an act by their audience. And in the past, I’ve probably been guilty of it myself. But as I get older, I’m getting better at taking things at face value. My take is that these people should be questioning their motives if you bring them something they previously disregarded. They should realize they probably missed something, because odds are, you’ve been at this longer than them.
And has anybody realized that the previous generation of suburban kids had a large hand in launching Led Zepplin, Hendrix, The Doors, ACDC, Van Halen, and so many other classic rock and metal bands?
MC, you’re just not going to get old that way. It ain’t in your nature, and I’m glad you realize that. Part of what I’ve been doing with my articles is educating people on the choices they have. There are so many options – FREE options – that there’s no way to justify sitting idly by while you’re spoonfed corporate rock. Pandora, last.fm, TONS of free Internet radio stations that aren’t programmed by suits. And if you can afford it, there’s Rhapsody, Yahoo, etc., that give you on demand access to damn near everything.
The reason why I’ve been putting more music reviews up is because I’ve discovered so much great stuff on Rhapsody. Stuff that, like you said, won’t make it to corporate radio. Even the “modern rock” stations that I have the most tolerance for still play stuff by Nirvana, Sublime, and other bands that died almost 15 years ago. And this isn’t just during the “flashback lunches”, it’s all the time. Were those bands great? Yes. But they’ve been playing the same hits, over and over, FOR MORE THAN A DECADE! Take your head out of the ostrich hole and have a listen – there’s new shit to play!
Huh, I guess I did have the angst afterall.
To put things into perspective, the few people I shared MSI with were not Crack Team members and therefore “not to be taken seriously” themselves.
There are only a chosen few music-inclined folk who may actually curb my views. (You being one of them) Even so, I certainly wouldn’t throw a CD into the trash based on someone else’s opinion. AT MOST, I would hide the CD under my car seat and only listen to it on the parkway with the volume lowered and the windows rolled up. ( “It’s OK Right Said Fred. You’re just going to hide out under here for now. No one is getting rid of you. There you go. Daddy loves you.”)
BUT STILL
It can be frustrating when “others” don’t see genius the way I do.
FYI: The track that I first heard was entitled “Harry Truman”.
Fucking genius shit there.
When you’re right, you’re right. I was thinking how big a find this was, and it reminded me of when I first heard Lords of Acid’s “Voodoo U”, which I probably bought because of the naked devil ladies album art. I’m listening to their “Greatest T*ts” now, and it’s still great.
BTW, I just picked up the “Breakdancaz” t-shirt found here:
http://merchnow.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MSI&Product_Code=MSI:MSIBRK-T&Category_Code=TS&Product_Count=1
Although I really want a t-shirt with the album cover from “Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy”.