Gizmodgery is the fourth studio album by the American pop rock band Self, released on September 5, 2000, by Spongebath Records. A concept album, it was recorded entirely with toyinstruments, 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, eventually seeing success 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 albumSelfafornia (2001).
Gizmodgery received near unanimous critical acclaim upon its release, discussing its unique production and playful energy, receiving comparisons to bands like The Flaming Lips and The Beatles, with Self's cover of "What a Fool Believes" receiving consistent praise. Commercially, Gizmodgery sold 10,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 9 on CMJ's Alternative Radio Airplay chart, later peaking at number 4 on CMJ's Top 200, it remains Self's most popular release. The album was distributed in Japan by Avex Records on April 25, 2001, and on vinyl through El Camino Media in 2015.
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,[4] a concept last attempted by Pianosaurus in their 1987 album Groovy Neighborhood. He was additionally inspired by The Moog Cookbook (1996) and At Home with the Groovebox (1999),[5] Matt's older brother, Mike Mahaffey, later bought musical toys for his children, which sparked Matt to purchase more through eBay and begin developing the toy album.[6]
Production
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 "Hi, My Name's Cindy" were lost during this process, leading the song's final version to be a rough mix.[4]
The song "What a Fool Believes" was constructed in a non-C majorkey to add variation to the album.[4] Some instruments such as the one-string Mattelstar guitar made chord assembly arduous, requiring each note to be played one at a time. On the back of physical copies, Mahaffey compiled a list of all toys used for Gizmodgery. 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), an album planned to be released through DreamWorks Records, while making Gizmodgery.[8] Mahaffey wrote and recorded "Suzie Q Sailaway" for inclusion on the latter, but was requested by the label to put it on the former.[4] He subsequently re-recorded the song with a full band, wishing to contain toy songs to Gizmodgery.[9] This process delayed the release of Breakfast with Girls, which, combined with the track's shift in style, led to a retroactive dissatisfaction.[4]
Music and lyrics
Style and influences
Gizmodgery is an alternative rock and power pop album, featuring elements of bossa nova and hip hop.[3] In addition to being an early representation of soft grunge,[10] it also takes inspiration from artists such as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, and Queen.[2] Lead band member Matt Mahaffey consistently labeled Gizmodgery as an "exercise in recording", and called the album a "lot of fun" to make.[11]
The tenth track of the album, a rendition of the Doobie Brothers song "What a Fool Believes", was initially suggested to Self by Count Bass D for a cover during the album's production, although the collaboration ultimately did not materialize.[4] Mahaffey later recorded the cover independently, drawn to creating large chords with small instruments.[4]
Lyrics
In contrast to the lyrics found in Self's third album Breakfast with Girls (1999), Gizmodgery presents a significantly less personal experience to the listener. Self wrote the album quickly, with Mahaffey stating: “—we were just basically recording beats to analog and stuff with the toy drums, just getting sounds and doing all kinds of sampling with the different keyboards. Then one night we just sat down and wrote "Trunk Fulla Amps" and "Ordinaire" and "You Love my Love" and "Suzie Q Sailaway"”.[4]
The opening track, "I Am A Little Explosion" begins with a toy doll stating "Let’s play some music!”, before the song starts.[12] The fourth track, "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.[13] 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.[14] The lyrics repeatedly state, "Got a trunk fulla amps, motherfucker",[3] and reference several artists by name, including Freddie Mercury and the Electric Light Orchestra.[15] Mahaffey remarked that after writing the first verse of the song: “—the flood gate opened and the 'f' word flew freely.”[14]
"Is Transistor-o-sexual a thing? Weird, cause’ I made it up."
"Pattycake" interpolates the nursery rhymeMiss Susie, written from the perspective of a group of playing children.[2] "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,[17] Mahaffey has stated that the song is not meant to be transphobic.[16] The twelfth track, "I Love To Love Your Love My Love" is a parody of popular doo-wop songs,[2] narrating the tale of a High school prom attendee who attempts to coerce a girl into pity sex.[18] It is written in the style of a Jellyfish song,[15] and features a piano ballad.[10]
Artwork
The cover artwork of Gizmodgery depicts a boy viewing a General ElectricShow'N Tell, featuring a skeletal ultrasoundfetus whose umbilical cord is connected to a microphone. Unlike the majority of Self's previous releases, the artwork for Gizmodgery was created by Kii Arens.[19] New artwork was created for the Japanese release.[20]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.
Release
Extra goodies included in early copies of Gizmodgery's Japanese edition.
Gizmodgery was released through Spongebath Records on September 5, 2000,[1] and appeared in retail stores by October 31.[21] Issued exclusively on HDCD,[22] the album sold 10,000 units in its first week.[4] Copies were packaged with a parental advisory sticker on the front due to the song "Trunk Fulla Amps",[23] which repeats the word "motherfucker" numerous times.[3] Few concerts were connected to the album's release, limited by the extensive cost of batteries required to power the toy instruments.[24] A Japanese edition of Gizmodgery was released on April 25, 2001.[25] 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.[20] 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.[22]
Gizmodgery's marketing campaign included television advertisements, a first for Self.
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.[9] 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.[26] A majority of the album's budget was spent airing this commercial during the Super Bowl XXXV in select areas of the east coast.[27] The advertisement and music video were both made available for download from Spongebath's website.[28] In 1999, Michael Simpson of the Dust Brothers remixed the toy recording of "Suzie Q Sailaway", which Mahaffey preferred over the original version.[9] It was released on the compilation albumSelfafornia (2001) alongside other cut songs from Gizmodgery's recording sessions,[29] including "Resurrect" as its final track.[30] 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 EPSelf Goes Shopping (2000).[31]
Use in media
"Dead Man" appears in an episode of Tally Hall's internet show,[32] which boosted the track in popularity on Spotify alongside "What a Fool Believes".[33] The latter song is featured in the first episode of the Netflix series FUBAR.[34] The song "Trunk Fulla Amps" was also featured in the final season of Weeds.[35]
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".[1] Andrew Shaw of The Daily Nebraskan rated Gizmodgery 4 out of 4 stars, hailing the production and complete soundscapes achieved with the toys.[36] 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.[3] 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.[12] 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.[38] 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.[39]
Amy Phillips of The Village Voice positively reviewed the album's youthful themes, classing "Pattycake" as its best song.[2] Mark Woodlief of CMJ shared similar sentiment, admiring Mahaffey's production and comparing his experimental songwriting to Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.[21] 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.[15] 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).[40] 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.[41] 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.[42] 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).[43] Ron Rollins of Dayton Daily News praised the album's energy and quirk,[44] while Ben Wener of The Orange County Register complimented its craftiness and use of childhood imagery.[45]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Matt Mahaffey, except where noted.
12Fievet, Steven (November 2000). "babysue: LMNOP Reviews". LMNOP. Archived from the original on February 21, 2001. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
12Peters, Ryan (October 15, 2000). "Self's fourth album 'Gizmodgery' is performed entirely on toy instruments and it's one lots of people are going to want". Portland Press Herald: 5E.
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