Mindless Self Indulgence
Mindless Self Indulgence (often shortened to MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and breakbeat hardcore, accompanied by humorous, shocking, and often controversial lyrics.
Mindless Self Indulgence | |
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Mindless Self Indulgence performing in 2012 | |
Background information | |
Origin | New York City, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 1997–2014 (hiatus) |
Labels | |
Associated acts | Tub Ring, The Left Rights |
Website | mindlessselfindulgence |
Members |
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Past members |
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History
Between 1987 and 1996, Jimmy Urine recorded about 35 songs which varied in musical style, usually settling in an industrial/electronic punk style. These songs were recorded alone by Urine in New York City using rudimentary equipment. Urine released an album titled Mindless Self-Indulgence, featuring Steve, Righ?, on 'Bed of Roses', which featured songs performed in an industrial style akin to Nine Inch Nails.[1]
According to the band's website, their first live concert was on November 5, 1998.[2]
In 1997, Urine recorded a cover of Method Man's "Bring the Pain" that was made by merging six different styles of the same cover into one song. This became the basis for the Mindless Self Indulgence sound. Shortly after, the current band was formed when Jimmy Urine was joined by Steve, Righ? on guitar, Urine's brother Markus Euringer on second guitar (replaced by bassist Vanessa Y.T., who was subsequently replaced by bassist Lyn-Z), and Urine's cousin[3] Kitty on drums. They have released five albums, two EPs, one live album, and one live DVD. Rather than signing traditional record contracts, the band has licensed most of their albums to record labels, retaining ownership of the music.
In summer of 2007, the band toured as part of the Revolution Stage of Projekt Revolution, a music festival hosted by Linkin Park.[4] In January 2009, the band headlined the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink tour.[5]
In December 2010, they released a comic titled Adventures Into Mindless Self Indulgence about various tour stories and significant moments of the band's career.[6] The band released a remastered CD/DVD version of their first full-length album, Tight, in 2011, titled Tighter. It included bonus tracks and recordings from their early days. On October 25, 2012, the band announced their fifth album via a Kickstarter campaign.[7] How I Learned to Stop Giving a Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence was released in May 2013, following with the release of singles "It Gets Worse" in December and "Fuck Machine" in January 2014. Later in January 2014, the band announced that they would be taking a hiatus.[8][9][10]
On September 18, 2015, Mindless Self Indulgence released Pink, a collection of 19 songs recorded between 1990 and 1997 by Urine. The album includes cut-down and remastered versions of songs from the self-titled album, an audio diary recorded by Urine from July 1992, and covers of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" and Duran Duran's "Girls on Film".[11]
Uppity Cracker
Uppity Cracker is an independent record label created by Jimmy Urine and James Galus, which the band has used to distribute numerous promos after their former label refused to distribute releases that featured controversial lyrics (such as the song "Panty Shot"). The label has been used for MSI releases such as Tight, Alienating Our Audience, and Despierta Los Niños, and for releases by the band's other project, The Left Rights. Albums that have been released on other labels also carry the Uppity Cracker imprint. The label's only release not related to Mindless Self Indulgence is by New York pop-rap group The O.
Members
Current members
- Jimmy Urine – lead vocals, synthesizer, programming (1997–present)
- Steve, Righ? – guitars, backing vocals (1997–present)
- Kitty – drums (1997–present)
- Lyn-Z – bass (2001–present)
Former members
- Markus Euringer – guitars, bass (1997–1998)
- Vanessa Y.T. – bass (1998–2001)
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album details | Chart peaks | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [12] |
US Indie [12] |
UK [13] | ||||||||
1999 | Tight
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— | — | — | ||||||
2000 | Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy
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— | — | — | ||||||
2005 | You'll Rebel to Anything
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107 | 4 | — | ||||||
2008 | If
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27 | 2 | 132 | ||||||
2013 | How I Learned to Stop Giving a Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence
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103 | 22 | — | ||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not certified. |
EPs
Year | Album details |
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2003 | Despierta Los Niños
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2006 | Another Mindless Rip Off
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2010 | <3
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Live albums
Year | Album details |
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2002 | Alienating Our Audience
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Compilations
Year | Album details |
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2015 | Pink
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Demo albums
- Mindless Self Indulgence (1995)
- Crappy Little Demo (1997)
- Thank God Demo (2001)
Singles
Year | Song | Chart peak | Album | |||||||
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US Dance [14] |
UK [15] | |||||||||
1999 | "Bring the Pain" | — | — | Tight | ||||||
2000 | "Bitches" | — | — | Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy | ||||||
"Planet of the Apes" | — | — | ||||||||
2001 | "Thank God" | — | — | Alienating Our Audience | ||||||
2006 | "Shut Me Up" | 1 | — | You'll Rebel to Anything | ||||||
"Straight to Video" | 1 | — | ||||||||
2008 | "Mastermind" | — | — | If | ||||||
"Never Wanted to Dance" | 1 | 180 | ||||||||
"(It's 3AM) Issues" | 4 | — | ||||||||
"On It" | 2 | — | ||||||||
"Pay for It" | 1 | — | ||||||||
2009 | "Evening Wear/Mark David Chapman" | 1 | — | |||||||
2013 | "It Gets Worse" | — | — | How I Learned to Stop Giving a Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence | ||||||
2014 | "Fuck Machine" | — | — | |||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
The Left Rights
Side project by Jimmy Urine and Steve, Righ?
- Released: September 24, 2002
- Label: Uppity Cracker
Bad Choices Made Easy
- Released: November 9, 2010
- Label: Metropolis
Videography
Video albums
Year | Album details |
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2007 | Our Pain, Your Gain
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References
- "Mindless Self-Indulgence* - Mindless Self-Indulgence (1995, CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- "Downtime, New York, NY, 11/05/1998". Mindlessselfindulgence.com. 1998-11-05. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- "Mindless Facts". Elftown.com. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
- "Projekt Revolution 2007". Linkinpedia.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- Wilson, Jen (October 22, 2008). "Kerrang! Tour Returns in 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
- "Mindless Self Indulgence to Sign New Book at Two West Coast Events". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
- Mindless Self Indulgence (2012-10-25). "Brand New Mindless Self Indulgence Record!". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
- Haley, Caleb (March 12, 2014). "Mindless Self Indulgence's Jimmy Urine: "We're Not Gonna Break Up Unless Somebody Dies."". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- Urine, Jimmy (April 17, 2014). "Jimmy Urine: "We're Not Gonna Break Up Unless Somebody Dies."". Mindless Self Indulgence. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2014-08-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "The Msi Historical Society Presents: "Pink"". Mindlessselfindulgence.com. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- "Mindless Self Indulgence – Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved on November 2, 2008.
- "Chart Log UK – 2008 Weekly Updates – Week 18" Zobbel. Retrieved on November 2, 2008.
- "Mindless Self Indulgence – Charts & Awards – Billboard Singles" allmusic. Retrieved on November 2, 2008.
- "Chart Log UK – 2008 Weekly Updates – Week 35" Zobbel. Retrieved on November 2, 2008.
External links
- Official website
- Mindless Self Indulgence at AllMusic
- Mindless Self Indulgence at Curlie
- Mindless Self Indulgence discography at Discogs
- Mindless Self Indulgence discography at MusicBrainz