Have you ever been tripping balls on alcohol, and then you decide to listen to music. You're piss drunk and what you would most likely hear is a distorted version of whatever you put on. Suddenly, that Death Cab you popped in would begin to sound like Aphex Twin. Everything would be a mess of noise and you wouldn’t know what was going on. There is a band out there that has all the noise, but leaves you with the usual sense of reality. If you’ve never heard of Mindless Self Indulgence, then you’re like the guy that hid from the Holocaust until 1994. They call themselves the first industrial, jungle, rock, punk, techno freaks, and they can surely say that again. MSI’s music can be found everywhere you look. It is plastered all over movie soundtracks and commercials. I’m sure you’ve heard it somewhere. But if you already know who MSI are, then you already know not to take them seriously.
Mindless Self Indulgence has been around for a while. They play like The Bloodhound Gang, on acid, with talent, minus the fart jokes. The songs are pure silliness; they range from the angry funny “Stupid MF”, to the insane funny “2 Hookers and an 8 Ball”. By now you must be wondering whether the band is just a big joke or not. In basic, they play some really great industrial music, with bizarre lyrics and even more bizarre band members. If you’ve ever seen the bands pictures, you’d see the front man’s six foot tall, pink, and spiked hair, next to the women in the bondage outfits. I just can’t tell which is weirder, the musicians or the music.
Aside from the craziness of the music, it’s also very good. The band either has happy songs, boner jams, or serious rants. It’s a bizarre pattern to fallow but it all makes sense. I’m judging it on the lyrics and the tempo. I am ready to give all evidence of the three types. Here it is…
The song “2 Hookers and an 8 Ball” is definitely a happy song. The title is screamed over and over again in front of the heavy techno sound. If you didn’t know, an “8 Ball” is a term for a little of vial of crack. Midway through the chorus there is an insane rap section. The lyrics go, “8 ball niggaz and all the cold villains, As I rock them niggaz and get, Freaky deaky with a front row ticket, for all my fine bitches”. Somewhere in the song, it’s mentioned very quietly, it says “can you believe I write this sh
it”. No sir, I cannot believe it. This is a very happy song. Drugs, hookers, niggaz, fun indeed.
Here’s the song “Prom”. The verses are filled with heavy distorted guitar with a few synthesizers doing their thing. The verse’s lyrics seem like they’re all about how “Everyone in high school will worship the
fu
cking ground I walk on if it was up to me”. Then the chorus gives the softly repeated line “You make me hard”. At this point in the song, the synthesizers slow down a bit, but speed back up for the second verse. This dubs this track a boner jam.
The last of the three is the title track “You’ll Rebel to Anything”. The song is all about those kids that we call “emo” nowadays. I prefer “scene” because if any of those kids ever heard actual emo then they would need new undergarments. But about the song, it’s my favorite track on the album. The lyrics are class. The song has two different choruses and they go back and fourth. The first of these is said rapidly in a high pitched whisper…
“Boo fuckin hoo you're not the only one whose life's a piece of ***
And yet miraculously somehow we all seem to deal with it
Did anybody think that you would really seriously slit your wrists
In fact I think that everybody thinks you're seriously full of shit”
This is definitely classified as the angry rant song. If you were do download one of the songs from this album, this is the one to get. It is a mix of everything. It has the great lyrics with the extra great techno sounds.
The instruments on this album are class. Whether I’m talking about the ferocious distorted guitar, or the acid-induced synthesizer, it all sounds amazing. These are all certainly dance songs. Believe me, I have busted a move to an MSI song before. Just don’t let anyone see you. That will be the end of you when a video of it is on the internet. Speaking of the internet, many of the meme (famous online movies) videos feature MSI songs. Cheers to fun facts.
The vocals on the album are a love/hate relationship. I’ve talked to people that love the intensity of the vocals and the screaming songs. Then I’ve met people who hate the band strictly for the vocals themselves. If you ask me, I like the vocals but sometimes I get a little embarrassed for the lead singer because he overacts on occasion. Other than that, the vocals are brutally awesome.
If I had any complaints with this album, it would be that if you like it, you won’t be able to lay off these songs in your head. Then after you sing “Stupid MF” all day to yourself, then you listen to it, it gets old really quick. This is actually really annoying. Half the songs on the album are boring to me already, and I’ve had the album for only one week. This one should only get an occasional listen for its own good.
In the end, we are left with an industrial album that has absolutely no purpose but to make us smile. The music is fierce, the lyrics are hilarious. There really isn’t much else to say here, except that “I like my coffee black just like my metal”. If you don’t get it, download “Shut Me Up”. This album’s rating is what it deserves. I am anxious to see what Mindless Self Indulgence will drop on us next.
3.5/5
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