Mindless Self Indulgence

If

Written by: PP on 28/05/2008 02:39:45

Question time, folks! What genre would you most associate with Mindless Self Indulgence? Would it be dance, hardcore, metal, industrial, punk, electronica or perhaps something entirely different? My bet is that you, my dear reader, are just about as confused as I am about the band and their newest album \"If\", and won\'t be able to tell me just exactly what I should call them. At a loss of words, I\'ll just call it electroindustrialdancepunkcore.

On \"If\", the band shuffles all those genres around so fast that it\'s hard to keep track. Whether it\'s the frantic scream/trance combo track \"Never Wanted To Dance\", the danceable pop track \"Evening Wear\", or the garage-punkish, but still chaotic \"Lights Out\" that you look at, it\'s impossible to pinpoint what genre the band belongs to, which I\'m sure was their goal all along. Couple that with the band\'s great sense for chart-topping choruses and there\'s no wonder MSI debuted near the very top of the BillBoard charts, although it sure is notable that a band so original and fresh is able to break through the clones upon clones of bands and shitty music from rap/rnb/etc genres.

Speaking of those genres, \"Issues\" will surely turn some heads in the industrial rock scene, considering how closely it associates to that scene while at the same time borrowing loads from Missy Elliot and other R\'n\'B douchebags. For someone like me who can\'t stand anything out of the latter genre, this track is beyond annoying with its endless repetitions of \"make out with her friends, friends \". The overly idiotic \"Get It Up\" continues on the line of the latter, surely pissing every rock fan off with its all too close allegiance with the said RnB/Rap genres, complete with the \"ohh yeahh\" moans of (presumably) hot babes.

Luckily, MSI mostly stays away from the two dreaded genres for the duration of \"If\". During the moments that they break the forbidden wall down and bring in samples/impressions from the genres, the disc is pretty close to being binned, and I\'m sure the majority of readers on this site will agree. However, when the band just takes a little bit of that dance-pop-electro influence and inserts it into a chaotic punk/garage/industrial interpretation, the material is very close to being golden. Especially the first three tracks are great, it\'s not a question of \"If\" but \"When\" they will pull the carpet from below you. Check it out if you want to hear something truly unique, for once.

7

Download: Evening Wear, Lights Out, Never Wanted To Dance
For the fans of: The Prodigy playing together with Nine Inch Nails and Static-X
Listen: Myspace

Release date 29.04.2008
The End Records

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