Self

Gizmodgery (Spongebath)
by Scott Hefflon

I kinda hoped that Self‘s Dreamworks release would take this band to Ben Folds Five heights, but, as usual, various fumblings and an apathetic public with no sense of humor helped this band receive very little of the fawning they so deserve. They’ve snottily retaliated by recording this dorky gem entirely on toy instruments, video games, and stuffed animal voice boxes. They even cover Michael McDonald’s “What a Fool Believes,” a spanky of sorts if you know what I mean. Sometimes skipping in breathy falsetto (can’t help but think of The Bee-Gees, and trust me, I’m trying), sometimes dancing angularly and, ya know, white, like Oingo Boingo or Thomas Dolby to Nintendo bleeps and bloops and infectious, sugary melodies, and sometimes pushing a toy instrument “too far” to see how it distorts, often sounding like Weezer with party whistles up their asses playing hopscotch. Faves, aside from the child-like joy derived from each, is the George Michaelish do-wap tinkle of “Ilovetoloveyourlovemylove” (what a great title!) which builds as something feedsback and Beatles/Jellyfish group harmonies cuddle and coo how absolutely stunningly wonderful everything is, and the track that I think is the single, “Trunk Fulla Amps.” As in “I gotta trunk fulla amps, motherfucka,” the last word half being a sample from Freddie Mercury, Danzig, ELO, Lenny Kravitz, and more. Part bossa nova, part slacker alternarock stumble, part giddy censor mooning, the song fingersnaps like Snap-caps riddling your feet as the unkempt kids at the mall whip you into a helpless frenzy.
(101 North Maple St. Murfreesboro, TN 37130)