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Gizmodgery
2000 studio album by Self From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gizmodgery is the fourth studio album by the American pop rock band Self, released on September 5, 2000, by Spongebath Records. Recorded entirely with toy instruments, its music was written and composed by lead member Matt Mahaffey, with the band's other members contributing to select songs. The album's sole single, "Trunk Fulla Amps", received a music video and television commercial, whilst the song "Dead Man" became a sleeper hit in the early 2020s. The band recorded Gizmodgery simultaneously with their third studio album, Breakfast with Girls (1999), leading to a multitude of cut songs and b-sides, with these eventually becoming their second compilation album Selfafornia (2001).
Gizmodgery received critical acclaim upon its release, discussing its unique production and playful energy, with Self's cover of "What a Fool Believes" receiving consistent praise. Commercially, Gizmodgery sold over 13,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 9 on CMJ's Alternative Radio Airplay chart, later peaking at number 4 on the CMJ Top 200. The album was distributed in Japan by Avex Records in 2001, and on vinyl through El Camino Media in 2015.
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Background
In 1995, Self was given the cover page of an issue of Virtually Alternative after the release of the project's debut album Subliminal Plastic Motives. Within the magazine, lead member Matt Mahaffey spoke about wanting to create an album solely with toy instruments,[1] a concept last attempted by Pianosaurus in their 1987 album Groovy Neighborhood.[2] He was additionally inspired by The Moog Cookbook (1996) and At Home with the Groovebox (1999).[3] Matt's older brother, Mike Mahaffey, later bought musical toys for his children,[4] which sparked Matt to purchase more through eBay and begin developing the toy album.[5] He chose to do the project independently, feeling less constrained with his label Spongebath Records compared to prior major label albums,[1] although DreamWorks Records expressed interest in publishing the album.[6]
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Production
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Some instruments, such as the one-string Mattel star guitar made chord assembly arduous, requiring each note to be played one at a time.[7] On the back of physical copies, Mahaffey compiled a list of all toys used for Gizmodgery,[8] including a Schoenhut toy piano.[9] Of these, Cheryl Botchick of CMJ noted that the listed six-string electric guitar produced by Vox "could be construed as a rule bender".[7] Self additionally worked on Breakfast with Girls (1999),[2] an album planned to be released through DreamWorks Records, while making Gizmodgery.[10] Mahaffey wrote and recorded "Suzie Q Sailaway" for inclusion on the latter, but was requested by the label to put it on the former.[1] He subsequently re-recorded the song with a full band, wishing to contain toy songs to Gizmodgery.[11] This process delayed the release of Breakfast with Girls, which, combined with the track's shift in style, led to a retroactive dissatisfaction.[1][2]
Mahaffey recorded his instruments with a condenser microphone, later equalizing the audio with Pro Tools to fix abundant mid-range frequencies.[7] The songs "5 Alive", "Pattycake", and "Hi, My Name's Cindy" were additionally created using Logic Pro. Complications arose from this, as Mahaffey had to manually recreate the tracks with hundreds of separate files in Pro Tools to mix the songs. The files for the latter were lost during this process, leading the song's final version to be a rough mix. Other songs required multiple takes due to recording errors, such as the bass guitar of "Trunk Fulla Amps" and the drums of "Ordinaire". Alongside "I Love to Love Your Love My Love", these three songs were developed quickly, being written in one day. Self was proposed by Count Bass D to record a cover of the Doobie Brothers' song "What a Fool Believes" during the album's creation, but the collaboration never came to fruition. Mahaffey later recorded the cover independently, drawn to creating large chords with small instruments. The song was constructed in a non-C major key to add variation to the album.[1]
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Music and lyrics
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Style and influences
Gizmodgery uses a power pop/rock soundscape with elements of new wave.[12] In addition to being an early representation of soft grunge,[13] it also takes influence from artists such as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, and Queen.[14] Lead band member Matt Mahaffey consistently labeled Gizmodgery as an "exercise in recording", and called the album a "lot of fun" to make.[15] The majority of the vocals in Gizmodgery are performed in a feminine manner,[16] characterized by a high level of energy.[17]
"5 Alive" consists of an intro featuring a cacophony of background noises,[12] later complemented by aesthetically pleasing vocals, all while incorporating an element of pop music.[16] "Chameleon" is predominantly made up of a repeating drum loop accompanied by distorted sounds.[12] The publication The O'Colly described "Chameleon" as "surprisingly dark,"[18] while Alex Steininger from In Music We Trust referred to it “as close as anyone will ever get to creating pop-industrial-electronica.”[16] "Pattycake" is sung in a falsetto reminiscent of soul music.[19] "Ordinaire" incorporates unconventional and eccentric rhythms,[16] alongside alarm sounds similar to that of the American new wave band Devo.[12] "9 Lives" is presented in the style of a punk song and evokes elements of psychedelic music.[20] While "I Love To Love Your Love My Love" is a parody of popular doo-wop songs,[14] and features a piano ballad.[13]
Lyrics
"Is Transistor-o-sexual a thing? Weird, cause’ I made it up."
Matt Mahaffey (@mattmahaffey)[21]
The opening track, "I Am A Little Explosion" begins with a toy doll stating "Let’s play some music!”, before the song starts.[22] "Chameleon" is characterized by a recurring vocal verse, which also incorporates a sample of a drunken man speaking nonsensically.[12] "Dead Man", is written from the perspective of a man dealing with mortality issues, coping with the stress of everyday life by using black comedy as a relief method.[17] Following, "Trunk Fulla Amps" was written humorously, as the band considered it ironic that a song created solely with toy instruments could contain significant profanity.[23] The lyrics repeatedly state, "Got a trunk fulla amps, motherfucker",[12] and reference several artists by name, including Freddie Mercury and the Electric Light Orchestra.[24] Mahaffey remarked that after writing the first verse of the song: “—the flood gate opened and the 'f' word flew freely.”[23]
"Pattycake" interpolates the nursery rhyme Miss Susie, written from the perspective of a group of playing children.[14] "Hi, My Name’s Cindy" is a mockery of blind dates, telling the story of a man who ends up on a blind date with a literal blind "transistorosexual" woman,[25] Mahaffey has stated that the song is not meant to be transphobic.[21] The twelfth track, "I Love To Love Your Love My Love" is written in the style of a Jellyfish song,[24] and narrates a story of a High school prom attendee who attempts to coerce a girl into pity sex.[2]
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Artwork
The cover artwork of Gizmodgery depicts a boy viewing a General Electric Show'N Tell, featuring a skeletal ultrasound fetus whose umbilical cord is connected to a microphone. The fetus featured on the cover is available on display at the Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam.[26] Unlike the majority of Self's previous releases, the artwork for Gizmodgery was created by Kii Arens.[27][28] New artwork was created for the Japanese release.[29] Gizmodgery features unique artwork for every song on the album, similar to that of Self's debut Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995). An icon is used to represent each song on the CD and booklet.
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Release
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Gizmodgery was released through Spongebath Records on September 5, 2000,[30] and appeared in retail stores by October 31.[31] Issued exclusively on HDCD,[32] copies were packaged with a parental advisory sticker on the front due to the song "Trunk Fulla Amps",[18] which repeats the word "motherfucker" a total of 18 times.[33] Gizmodgery was not available at Walmart,[34] as the company refuses to stock albums featuring parental advisory stickers.[35] Few concerts were connected to the album's release, limited by the extensive cost of batteries required to power the toy instruments,[36] only consisting of an album release party in Murfreesboro, and a performance at a Tower Records store in Nashville.[15] A Japanese edition of Gizmodgery was released on April 25, 2001,[37] with the songs "Dead Man" and "I Love To Love Your Love My Love" being available for download from the Japanese website.[38] It included the bonus track "Resurrect", alongside new artwork created by Fujita Blender of Hyppopotamus Graphics. Mahaffey travelled to Japan to promote the album, partaking in a photo shoot taken by Daisuke Fujisawa and 18 different interviews for various Japanese music outlets. Each purchase included a poster, a sticker, and a ticket to enter a contest in which 50 people received a toy used whilst creating the album.[29] Celebrating its fifteenth anniversary, the album was re-issued through El Camino Media on September 11, 2015, available as a digital download and physically as a blue vinyl.[32]
A music video for "Trunk Fulla Amps" directed by Reed Ridley was released in February 2001. It was intended to be broadcast for MTV's "Indie Day", but the band did not qualify due to their contract with DreamWorks.[11] Self produced a 30-second advertisement consisting of a comically edited version of the music video alongside an animated salesman voice-over and footage of guitarist Mike Mahaffey dancing.[39] A majority of the album's budget was spent airing this commercial during the Super Bowl XXXV in select areas of the east coast,[40] alongside the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.[41] The advertisement and music video were both made available for download from Spongebath's website.[42] Gizmodgery was heavily promoted on college rock radio stations, a result of Spongebath pushing students to “request the hell out of the cd”.[43]
In 1999, Michael Simpson of the Dust Brothers remixed the toy recording of "Suzie Q Sailaway", which Mahaffey preferred over the original version.[11] It was released on the compilation album Selfafornia (2001) alongside other cut songs from Gizmodgery's recording sessions,[44] including "Resurrect" as its final track.[45] Selfafornia was intermittently released in portions through Spongebath Records' website in mid-2001, available as a free internet download, with the final set of songs releasing on July 27, 2001.[44] Laurent of Indiepoprock complimented the compilation's sound, describing it as encapsulating the band's bright and quirky instrumentation amidst a low budget.[45] While the band toured for Gizmodgery, Mike Mahaffey created various chiptune remixes of previously released songs to lead the band on stage. These were released as a free internet download after the tour ended as their second EP Self Goes Shopping (2000).[46]
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Reception
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The album received largely positive reviews upon release. Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album a rating of 4/5, complimenting its detailed production against cheap toys and Mahaffey's "playful, often kitschy sense of humor".[30] Andrew Shaw of The Daily Nebraskan rated Gizmodgery 4 out of 4 stars, hailing the production and complete soundscapes achieved with the toys.[47] Spencer Owen of Pitchfork criticized the project's stylistics derivations and the noisiness of "5 Alive" and "Chameleon" while lauding the fun energy presented in other tracks, rating it a 6.9/10.[12] The album was reviewed more positively by Samuel Barker of RockZone, calling it a "good mix of old style funk with a dose of new age pop" and giving it an A+ grade.[22] Steven Fievet of LMNOP followed with a rating of 5 out of 6 stars, classifying the album as "toy pop" and magnifying its mix of lighthearted and serious undertones.[48] Ryan Peters of Portland Press Herald graded Gizmodgery an A, praising its tasteful mix of contrasting pop elements and Mahaffey's ability to avoid relying on a gimmick.[49]
Amy Phillips of The Village Voice positively reviewed the album's youthful themes, classing "Pattycake" as its best song.[14] Mark Woodlief of CMJ shared similar sentiment, admiring Mahaffey's production and comparing his experimental songwriting to Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.[31] Scott Hefflon of Lollipop Magazine likened the song "I Love To Love Your Love My Love" to the Beatles and Jellyfish, commending its harmonies and doo-wop composition.[24] J Noise of Hybrid Magazine equated Mahaffey's guitar work throughout Gizmodgery to Brian May's, admiring the diverse combination of genres and stating a resemblance to Beck's Odelay (1996).[34] Carlos Ramirez of No Echo was pleased by Mahaffey's choice not to emulate the original singing style of "What a Fool Believes", enjoying its synthetic buoyancy.[50] Jeff Brown of The Pitch additionally approved "What a Fool Believes" and the varied moods of Gizmodgery, ranking the album as one of the best of 2000.[51] Bill Ribas of NY Rock held a similar ranking for the year, favoring "Trunk Fulla Amps" for its similarities to David Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980).[52] Ron Rollins of Dayton Daily News praised the album's energy and quirk,[53] while Ben Wener of The Orange County Register complimented its craftiness and use of childhood imagery.[54]
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Legacy
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By May 2000, both Mahaffey and James had moved to Los Angeles in order to be closer to the bands’ label, DreamWorks Records, followed by Burrus moving to San Diego in September.[1] After the move, Mahaffey received further music opportunities from executives at DreamWorks, starting with the 2001 animated fantasy comedy film Shrek.[55] Deemed particularly "fitting" by critics given the all toy instrumentation used in Gizmodgery.[56][57] Burrus joined the Jimmy Kimmel Live! crew in 2004, using his experience with Gizmodgery to help keep their music gear stable.[58] Mahaffey has remained positive about the album. In a 2014 interview with Vice, Mahaffey stated he still received praise for the album, yet remarked “I’d never do it again, but it was a good exercise.”[59]
J.P. Grant of The A.V. Club compared the "toy" gimmick of the 2011 video game Toy Soldiers: Cold War to that of Gizmodgery’s, praising both for “transcending its gimmick with its solid fundamentals.”[60] Beginning in 2021, "Dead Man" began to rise in popularity on Spotify alongside "What a Fool Believes", both becoming sleeper hits,[61] with "What a Fool Believes" being used in the first episode of the Netflix series FUBAR in 2023.[62] "Dead Man" gained larger popularity after Spotify's AI algorithm began to promote it alongside songs by indie rock artists Lemon Demon and Tally Hall,[63] additionally being used in an episode of Tally Hall's internet show in 2011,[64][17] with fans of the band confusing it for a new Tally Hall song.[63] The song "Trunk Fulla Amps" was featured in the final season of Weeds,[59] additionally becoming a regular staple of Self's live performances.[65]
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Commercial performance
Gizmodgery was commercially successful for Self, with 5,000 units being sold via pre-order. In its first week, the band sold another 5,000 units through Spongebath, with more than 3,000 additionally being distributed through retail stores.[1] It debuted at number 198 on the CMJ Radio 200 chart on October 2, 2000. It received 87 radio adds for the week, ranking number 3 in Radio 200 adds and number 5 in adult alternative adds.[66] It jumped 183 positions on the CMJ Radio 200 chart the following week, reaching number 15, and debuted at number 25 on CMJ's Core Radio chart.[67] It peaked at number 10 on the latter on October 30,[68] and peaked at number 8 on the CMJ Radio 200 on November 13.[69] It additionally peaked at number 12 on CMJ's Internet Broadcast chart,[68] number 9 on CMJ's Alternative Radio Airplay chart,[31] and number 4 on the CMJ Top 200.[29] On January 26, 2020, the track "What a Fool Believes" peaked at number 69 on the Radio Top 100 Alternative Songs chart in Japan.[70]
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Track listing
All tracks are written by Matt Mahaffey, except where noted.
Notes
- On physical releases, "Miracle Worker" is stylized as "Miracleworker" and "I Love To Love Your Love My Love" as "ilovetoloveyourlovemylove".
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[71]
Musicians
- Matt Mahaffey – lead vocals, instruments
- Mike Mahaffey – guitar (10), instruments (5, 7, 12, 13)
- Mac Burrus – instruments (5, 7, 12, 13)
- Chris James – instruments (5, 7, 12, 13)
- Jason Rawlings – instruments (5, 7, 12, 13)
Technical
- Chris James – mixing engineer
- Tom Baker – mastering engineer
- Matt Mahaffey – engineer (1–4, 6, 8–11, 14)
- Shawn McLean – engineer (5, 7, 12, 13)
- Kii Arens – package design
- Fuzita Blender – Japanese package design
- Daisuke Fujisawa – Japanese photography
- Kozaburo Sakamoto – Japanese photography
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Charts
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References
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