"Out with a Bang"[a] is a song by American pop rock band Self, released on August 25, 2017. It appears as the eleventh track on their fifth studio album Ornament & Crime (2017), distributed through El Camino Media. The song revolves upon a power pop instrumentation constructed alongside alternative rock. Although originally created to appear solely in the film Evolution (2001), "Out with a Bang" was later used in an award winning Team Fortress 2machinima, boosting its popularity online before its official release.
After the release of Self's third studio album Breakfast with Girls (1999), lead band member Matt Mahaffey was given music writing offers in movies from Self's then-label, DreamWorks Records.[1][2] The first of which was the song "Stay Home" (2002), appearing in the 2001 animated fantasy comedy Shrek.[3] Mahaffey was also given an offer to produce the ending credits of the 2001 sci-fi comedy Evolution. Mahaffey met with director Ivan Reitman in a meeting, writing the song directly afterwards,[2] appearing in its end credits.[4] "Out with a Bang" was not released on a soundtrack, and was not available anywhere else, with Mahaffey encouraging fans to watch the film to listen to the song.[2]
Mahaffey moved to Los Angeles[5] with Self pianist Chris James and bassist Mac Burrus in 2000,[6] with plans to release their fifth studio album Ornament & Crime by the summer of 2001,[7] although Mahaffey stated that the album was still “in progress” by June 2001.[2] "Out with a Bang" was later added to its tracklist,[8] and subsequently re-recorded, with DreamWorks asking them to make Ornament & Crime's songs more radio-friendly.[9]
On November 11, 2003, DreamWorks Records announced the sale of their company to Universal Music Group's Geffen Records for $100 million ($171millionin 2024).[10] Self finished Ornament & Crime on January 8, 2004,[11][12] with plans to release it on March 3, 2004,[13] with DreamWorks sale to Geffen finalized on January 9.[14] Geffen executives did not believe the album would be profitable to release, cancelling the album and leaving it unreleased. Ornament & Crime was indefinitely delayed, later leaking online via LiveJournal shortly after the announcement,[13] with a second leak occurring on LimeWire thereafter.[15] Following the death of guitarist Mike Mahaffey in 2005, the band entered hiatus.[12] Matt Mahaffey eventually made "Out with a Bang" available for download on his MySpace.[13]Ornament & Crime was eventually released on August 25, 2017, by El Camino Media.[16]
Reception
"Hi Kitty0706 fans! Very sorry to hear of his passing. My name is Matt. I wrote, produced, and sang this song. I'm glad you stopped by to listen to it."
In 2012, "Out with a Bang" was featured in the intro of the Team Fortress 2machinimaTeam Fabulous 2 by Kitty0706,[18][19] gaining popularity online through the Team Fortress 2 community.[18] By February 2016, it had received over 17 million views, gaining an award from Guinness World Records for being the "Most watched Team Fortress machinima on YouTube". Kitty0706, whose real name was Colin Wyckoff, died on January 25, 2015.[20] Mahaffey shared his condolences on a reupload of the track on YouTube in 2021, thanking viewers for listening to it.[18] As of December 2025, Team Fabulous 2 has garnered over 30 million views on YouTube.[19]
Writing for AudioPhix, Gerald Dih praised the song as “perfect for punchy, action-driven videos” and speculating it would be picked up and reach further virality on TikTok, comparing it to music by the American bands Vulfpeck and Glass Beach.[18]
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