By Sandra Diaz
(End Records)
By Sandra Diaz
It’s the best dance party self loathing ever hosted.
Mindless Self Indulgence hates all its fans – point blank.
Hailing from New York, Mindless Self Indulgence, also called MSI by fans, is a band that defies explanation.
Influenced by everything, MSI sounds like nothing that has ever been heard before.
Its latest album, “If” is the band’s most cohesive album to date.
MSI brings its brand of self-mocking, audienc – insulting lyrics, and everyone is eating it up.
Gaining notoriety from its 2005 release, “You’ll Rebel to Anything,” the band has become a staple sound for the Hot Topic crowd.
Since then MSI has released a slew of remix albums, a live DVD, and participated in big name music festivals like the Voodoo Music Experience.
The band is now finally in a place where it can make the album it has always wanted to.
“If” is what MSI was supposed to sound like all along, and it only took four albums to achieve and grow into its sound.
The album brings a harder edge if that is even possible.
It’s basically the same old awesome MSI, with better production values.
The album has been mixed to perfection, sounding smoother than previous work, now with more hand claps.
It’s nice to see the final versions of older demos. There have been some songs on “If” that went through a few different versions throughout the bands career.
Live tracks and low production demos have been given full on makeovers or at least given the attention they deserved in the first place.
The best example of this would be “Revenge.” Adding cheerleaders doesn’t seem like it would make the song better, but it does.
One of the most interesting tracks off “If” would have to be “Mark David Chapman.”
The song was created by a series of polls the band posted on its MySpace account.
While not the best song the band has written, it was a great inclusion to the album to promote the bands for the fans work ethic.
“Pay for it” is one song on the album though that sounded just as good as a demo.
The track actually would have been better if left alone.
New songs like “Never Wanted to Dance” offer new angle on an old standby concept for the band.
Lead singer Jimmy Urine shouts, “I’m too cool for the second break” and goes right into the second break.
It’s this kind of self-indulgence within the band itself that makes it work.
The song “Animal” is the most new-sounding track on the record.
It’s the freshest take on its classic sound.
Along with the old and new songs, “If” not only comes in three versions but includes a DVD of live performances.
To get a taste of what MSI is all about, listen to “Revenge” and “Mastermind” off the new record and wonder just what you’ve been missing out on.
