Mindless Self Indulgence

/wiki/Mindless Self Indulgencecreator
I am not into that whole, "Well, you don't like my music so I am going to get you!" Who cares? I don't like my music! It's all about being an asshole and not all the testosterone you can handle. Look at me, I am just a skinny little nothing, somebody's grandmother could kill me!
—Jimmy Urine, lead singer

Formed in 1997, Mindless Self Indulgence (usually shortened to MSI) was at first described by themselves as 'Industrial Jungle Pussy Punk', but have since denounced the term. It really is hard to describe their music, on the grounds that they never seem to adhere to a single set genre. Basically, they're a rock band.

Not usually for kids though, since the majority of their songs involved repeated profanity of some sort.

Current Members:

  • Jimmy Urine: Main vocalist, song-writer and programmer. The band's name actually came from his first solo album.
  • Steve, Righ?: Guitarist, co-writer with Jimmy. Sometimes does vocals, such as "Whipstickagostop" and "Z," and even has some programming credits under his belt.. Has worked with My Chemical Romance on their album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.
  • LynZ: Bassist from 2002-present. Married to Gerard Way.
  • Kitty: Drummer in Mindless Self Indulgence. She plays an acoustic drum kit with backing made up of sampled "loops" for live shows.

Former Members

  • Vanessa YT: Bassist from 1997-2002. Initially, Urine claimed she had left to become an astronaut, later to reply it was to start a family.
  • Markus Euringer: Played second guitar and electronics during the band's early years.
Discography:
  • Tight (1999, reissued 2011 with bonus content as "Tighter")
  • Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy (2000)
  • You'll Rebel To Anything (2005, reissued 2008)
  • If (2008)
Mindless Self Indulgence provides examples of the following tropes:
  • Anything That Moves: Jimmy Urine. When asked about sexuality once, he made a comment about not caring what revs his engine, be it a man, a woman, or a chicken.
  • Audience Participation: On the intro song "Backmask," Jimmy tells the audience "When I say we, you say suck! We!" "Suck!" "We!" "Suck!" "WHEN I SAY WE, YOU SAY SUCK! WE!" "SUCK!" "WE!" "SUCK!" "DICK."
    • Also frequently employed in live performances of "Faggot;" Jimmy usually allows the audience to sing the chorus, and he'll jump in for the fast-paced verses. On occasion, an audience member will be called onto the stage to sing into the mic.
  • Call Back: A lot, concerning a side project of Jimmy and Steve, called the Left Rights;
    • The leitmotif of "Free Porn" is a loop taken from "Bullshit."
    • Several of the artists who did videos for them on "If" and "You'll Rebel To Anything" were involved with the side-project's promotion.
    • Heck, for a non-Left Rights example: The opening and closing scenes of "Shut Me Up" were scored with a different loop from "Bullshit."
    • Also, in their cover of "La-Di Da-Di", they referenced "Bitches":

"Bitches love me 'cuz they know that I can BONK!"

    • The Left-Rights song "Why You In My Phyzical" has not one, but TWO shout-outs to MSI, from "Tornado" and "I Hate Jimmy Page" respectively:

"You ain't no operator, so who the fuck are you, then?!"
"No need to ask..." and later "When you look me upside down..."

    • "I Hate Jimmy Page" contains a reference to "Panty Shot," then an obscure song that had no officially released recordings:

"Who like that song 'five year-old panty shot?' Yeah, yeah, that could be a real big record..."

this recording has been carefully wiped clean and has absolutely no filthy words like FUCK so that you can play it at your radio facility. now hurry the fuck up and play the fucking thing.

  • I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Played for Laughs; during some concerts while playing "Planet of the Apes," Jimmy would open Steve,'s guitar solo by announcing he didn't not need the microphone, getting increasingly desperate the longer he was without it, and lunging towards it partway through the solo. In some cases, he even jabbed it into his arm while feigning ecstasy.
    • Jimmy seems to eat enough sugar (he's noted a specific fondness for Cherry Coca-Cola and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) to explain his extremely high energy, ADHD-like actions on stage. During some interviews, he seems to drink enough soda to go through several cans.
    • Jimmy's snorted Pixie Stix on stage on multiple occasions.
  • Indecipherable Lyrics: The beginning of "La-Di Da-Di."
    • During the second verse of their song "Played," Jimmy starts rapping incoherent gibberish for the rest of the verse.
  • Intercourse with You: "Get It Up."

"I wanna make some babies. I wanna get it on. I wanna make you horny, but I can't get it up."

  • Keet: Jimmy.
  • Large Ham: Jimmy Urine, Steve, Righ?, and (to an extent) Lyn-Z during live performances. They jump around, make random vocalizations, stage dive, stand on (and leap off of) stage equipment, and perform all sorts of other antics.
  • Lolicon: "Panty Shot."
  • Looped Lyrics: "Dicks Are For My Friends."
  • Motor Mouth/Stop and Go: Done in several songs such as "Stupid MF," "Like Shit," and "Dickface."
  • Minimalistic Cover Art: On the cover for three editions of If: it's just the title with some red splatters on paper.
  • Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: Their style combined, at various points in their career, punk rock, shock rock, drum and bass, hip-hop, industrial, metal, synth-pop, dance, and even noise rock.
  • The New Rock and Roll: Subverted with intent to parody. Play "Backmask" backwards,and you hear a middle-aged mother telling the listener to do things like "Go to church", "Do your homework" and "Eat your vegetables". Ironically, the last phrase you'd hear playing the song forwards is "Don't listen to this song" backwards
  • N-Word Privileges: Averted on occasion, but without the racist overtones.
  • Panty Shot: They have a song with this trope as its title.
  • Parental Incest: In "Royally Fucked".

"Mommy, daddy, why don't you finger me too?"

  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "DICKS! ARE! FOR! MY! FRIENDS!"
  • Refuge in Audacity: What they've been doing currently.
  • Refuge in Vulgarity: Where they started. Hell, in early shows, Jimmy would regularly put on a show that would put Kunt and the Gang to shame.
  • Sampling: By the barrel, when they started.
  • Screw Yourself: From "Make Me Cum:" "I'm the one who makes me so happy, and I wanna be all just for myself"
  • Self-Backing Vocalist: Employed in many songs; it's especially noticeable during live performances where Jimmy's singing can be sporadic at times.
  • Self-Deprecation: Oh, so much of it.
    • One show had a noticeable guitar flub which prompted Jimmy, without missing a beat, to add "oop, should've practiced."
  • Self-Titled Album: Jimmy Urine's little-known solo album (Steve, Righ? did collaborate for the song "Bed of Roses") Mindless Self Indulgence provided the title for the band.
  • Shout-Out: Multiple:
    • "Clarissa."

"If you're so smart, explain this, Clarissa!"

  • Soprano and Gravel: Jimmy jumps from piercingly high falsetto to a guttural growl on a regular basis.
  • Studio Chatter: The end of "Diabolical" contains a pair of comments from Steve, and Kitty after they finished recording:

Steve,: I lost my pick in the last part.
Kitty: That was... That was the best we're gonna do.

    • From Whipstickagostop:

Steve,: I gotta pee, man.

Jimmy: Who ya callin' a faggot? Yo, [...] while you're out gay-bashing, I'm gonna be at your house fucking your girlfriend. In the ass!

  • Tempting Fate: One trademark aspect of Jimmy's get-up is a jacket with one phrase or another (it varies) written on the back. One of the phrases? "Kick Me."
  • Who Writes This Crap?: In "2 Hookers and an 8 Ball": "Can you believe that I write this shit" (Basically the whole song, too.)

"Everybody say 'we want our money back!'"
"WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!!!"

"And, cut."

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