''Subliminal Plastic Motives'' is the debut studio album from

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Self The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily subjective. The sense of having a self—or ''selfhood ...

, and is perhaps their most well-known release. The album was recorded entirely by Matt and his brother, Mike. The album found some modest success with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and flagship radio stations like

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

. Once the band was solidified, videos were made for "So Low" and "Cannon". The album was released by

Spongebath Records Spongebath Records was an independent record label based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee during the mid-nineties. During its heyday, Spongebath was often viewed as the vibrant center of Murfreesboro/Nashville's (and the Southeast's) music scene with a ...

and was immediately picked up by Zoo Entertainment (now

Volcano Entertainment Volcano Entertainment (sometimes referred to as Volcano Records) was an American all-round music record label founded in 1996 which released albums by Tool, 311, Size 14, Survivor and "Weird Al" Yankovic. (The latter two were former Scotti Bros ...

). Critical reception was very positive, with Mahaffey receiving praise for his cut-and-paste, eclectic take on rock music, and garnering comparisons to artists such as

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

and

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

. Many of Self's fans hold the album in high regard and most of the songs are now fan favorites. While the album featured a hearty dose of what could best be described as "

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

" songs, elements such as hip-hop beats, jazzy piano, dense, complex arrangements, and triggers/samples were dispersed throughout, hinting at Mahaffey's versatility as a composer and Self's future musical directions.

Track listing

Personnel

*Vocals - Matt Mahaffey *Bass (Additional) - Don Kerce (tracks: 4,5,9,11,12) *Performer - Matt Mahaffey, Mike Mahaffey *Photography (Cover) - Brian Bottcher *Photography (Inlay) - Jim Harrington *Electric Piano (Outro) - Chris James (tracks: 4) *Saxophone (Alto) - Sam Baker (tracks: 5) *Trumpet - Brian Rogers (tracks: 5) *Other (Handclaps) - Seth Timbs (tracks: 6)

Production

*Producer - Self *Mastering -

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

*Mixing - Jim Faraci, Self *Engineer - Jim Faraci *Engineer (Assistant) - Pete Martinez, Sean McLean *Sampler - Matt Mahaffey *Sampler (Texturing) - Brian Rogers (tracks: 2)

References

1995 debut albums Self (band) albums Zoo Entertainment (record label) albums {{1990s-pop-rock-album-stub