ALBUM OF THE WEEK: FRANKENSTEIN GIRLS WILL SEEM STRANGELY SEXY — MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE (2000)

In 1987, 18 year old New Yorker James Euringer (aka Jimmy Urine) began recording industrial music heavily inspired by Nine Inch Nails with his brother Markus. However, the basis of Mindless Self Indulgence’s sound was formed ten years later, in 1997. Urine recorded six covers of Method Man’s song Bring the Pain, each in a different style ranging from new wave to breakcore. He stitched them together into one track, and the sound of Mindless Self Indulgence was born.

Urine would later be joined by Steve Righ? on guitar, Kitty on drums, and Vanessa Y.T. (who replaced Markus Euringer and would later be replaced by Lyn-Z) on bass. Their sound was chaotic and frenetic, with pulsating synths struggling to keep up with frantic breakbeats, creating an abrasive wave of noise that would violently halt or shift suddenly to a different genre. Over all of this, Urine’s voice screeched crude obscenities in some attempt at an anti-censorship message. The music is laden with racist, sexist, ableist, and homophobic slurs that wouldn’t pass now.

The band’s aesthetic was equally hectic and maximalist. Dressed in bright, absurd, and often gender-bending outfits, they created a unique, neon flavour of punk. Their performances were messy and aggressive, with Jimmy kissing fans on the mouth, drinking his own urine, setting his pubic hair on fire, and inviting people to punch him in the face. Lyn-Z was accepted into band after spitting fire using Bacardi and a match in her audition as bassist.

Urine’s method of frankensteining music together extended to pop culture, with frequent references to video games and comic books. Many of the songs are spliced with 8-bit chiptone tunes (e.g. Cocaine and Toupees), and the band’s exploits were made into a short comic (Adventures Into Mindless Self Indulgence). The cover of this album was done by Jamie Hewlett, who was known at the time for his comic Tank Girl, and who would later go on to form one half of Gorillaz. Both the music and aesthetic are a clear product of growing up in the 80s.

Throughout the band’s discography (and in interviews) it’s clear that Urine felt guilty for borrowing from other artists. He was self-referential about this, both putting himself down for it (on I Hate Jimmy Page) and making fun of his fans for listening to him (taunting them with “no refunds” on the track, Ready for Love). However, remixing, sampling and ripping off has been a staple of most genres of music, from jazz to hip-hop to breakcore. No artist is an island, and everyone has their influences, whether they credit them or not. Through blending different genres and “ripping off” different sounds, Mindless Self Indulgence managed to create a unique style ahead of its time — it’s only in the past few years, in the current wave of hyperpop artists, that we’ve really heard anything similar to MSI. The band’s final studio album, How I Learned to Stop Giving a Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence, did seem to be a reconcilliation with their sound and process.

The band’s crude lyrics and bright colours meant that they became associated with the scene crowd of the 2000s and 2010s, although they didn’t really belong there. Their roots were earlier than that, and they were doing much more interesting things with their music. However, they leant into the scene with some resentment, frequently claiming that they were only doing it for the money, and expressing frustration that they weren’t making more (while their music was popular, it was mostly pirated online by their younger audience).

Quite fittingly, considering how meta the band is, MSI’s final release was where it both ended and started. Pink (2015) was the band’s last album, but it was a collection of Urine’s earliest songs. The album reveals a lot, both thematically, in the origin of the sound, and personally, with voice memos from Urine as a young man, and back-masked songs whispering suggestions that he underwent some sort of sexual abuse as a child.

In 2021, a lawsuit was filed against Jimmy Urine claiming that he had been in a sexual relationship with a minor in the late 90s. He hasn’t released any music or been active online since. The allegations are upsetting (although nothing has been confirmed yet), and it’s difficult to separate the music from them since it is so personal and tied to him. However, the music remains unique, and it’s important to remember there were three other members in the band that helped to form the sound.

Similar artists:
System of a Down
The Garden
Venetian Snares
Nine Inch Nails
Marilyn Manson
Destroy Boys
Machine Girl

Also highly recommended if you forgot your preworkout.