The Half-Baked Serenade

The Half-Baked Serenade
Studio album by
Self
ReleasedMarch 5, 1997 (1997-03-05)
StudioMatt's House (Murfreesboro)
Genre
Length33:43
LabelSpongebath
ProducerMatt Mahaffey
Self chronology
Subliminal Plastic Motives
(1995) 		The Half-Baked Serenade
(1997) 		Feels Like Breakin' Shit
(1998)
Singles from The Half-Baked Serenade
  1. "KiDdies"
    Released: 1999

The Half-Baked Serenade is the second studio album by American pop rock band Self, released through Spongebath Records on March 5, 1997.

Background

Following the success of Self's debut album Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995), lead member Matt Mahaffey and his brother Mike recruited keyboardist Chris James, drummer Jason Rawlings, and bassist Tim Nobles to sustain touring as a band. They later found difficulty working with Nobles, leading to his removal from the group and lack of appearance on any album. During the same period, Mahaffey frequently received invitations to strip clubs from radio personalities and other music industry colleagues for his association with Subliminal Plastic Motives. Mahaffey's strong disinterest in this lifestyle led him to drop his guitar usage, citing the stereotypes around rock bands like Eve 6 and Green Day as the reason.[2]

Development and release

After touring with rock band Cracker for two months, Mahaffey returned home and found a message from a crazed fan in his answering machine. She had developed a parasocial relationship with him, believing his music to be about her and sharing personal information, including an interest in dressing like Marilyn Manson. After removing his name from the city's phone book, Mahaffey incorporated the message into the songs "KiDdies" and "Cinderblocks for Shoes", directly sampling it in the latter. Another song, "Joy, the Mechanical Boy", was stated to be about ecstasy use.[3] Using a Discman,[2] Self recorded the album solely in Mahaffey's living room.[1]

Following completion, The Half-Baked Serenade was released without any promotion in contrast to the high-budget marketing campaign by Zoo Entertainment for their previous album.[3] The album was sold on CD for $7 USD ($13.00 in 2023), available exclusively through mail order from Spongebath Records.[1] Its limited publicity led the band's shift in style not to reach many fans, believing Self to still focus on alternative rock.[4] "KiDdies" was later marketed as the album's sole single, receiving radio play nationwide and ranking number one on some stations.[3] Since Spongebath's dissolution, Mahaffey has maintained independent rights to the album.[5] In 2014, "Microchip Girl" appeared as part of a live acoustic set by Self.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Pitchfork7.5/10[7]
Spin7/10[8]

The Half-Baked Serenade received favorable reviews upon release. Shan Fowler of Pitchfork gave the album a rating of 7.5/10,[7] while Chuck Eddy of Spin gave it a rating of 7/10.[8] It received additional praise from Laurent of Indiepoprock,[9] and Gabe Besecker of Woof Magazine.[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Matt Mahaffey.

The Half-Baked Serenade track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Joy, the Mechanical Boy"4:11
2."Dielya Downtown"2:16
3."Crimes on Paper"2:57
4."KiDdies"2:33
5."Cinderblocks for Shoes"2:56
6."Song for Nelson"1:57
7."Preschool Days"3:02
8."Cater to Your Ego"1:58
9."Microchip Girl"3:39
10."Sassy Britches"5:04
11."When You're Alone" (bonus track)3:07
Total length:33:43

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[10]

  • Matt Mahaffey – lead vocals, instruments, production, mixing, arrangement
  • Tommy Dorsey – mastering engineer
  • Chris James – mixing
  • Jason Rawlings – mixing (all tracks), drums (2)
  • Brian Rogers – guitar (4)
  • Mike Mahaffey – guitar (9)
  • Brian Bottcher - album design, artwork direction

Charts

Weekly chart performance for The Half-Baked Serenade
Chart (1997–1998) Peak
position
Alternative Radio Airplay (CMJ)[11] 48
CMJ Top 200[12] 70

References

  1. ^ a b c Flippo, Chet (August 9, 1997). "Murfreesboro: An Emerging Music Mecca". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 32. pp. 66–67. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Harkey, Scott (September 11, 2000). "Self / Interviews". Silent Uproar. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Duritz, Darius (March 10, 2000). "The PiG Interview with Matt Mahaffey". PiG Publications. Archived from the original on April 19, 2001. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Besecker, Gabe (December 11, 2023). "sElf-Indulgent: A Retrospective on the Band That Started Matt Mahaffey's Career". Woof Magazine. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  5. ^ Heisel, Scott (August 27, 2014). ""We never broke up, but we got burned out"—Matt Mahaffey on the return of Self". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  6. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (August 15, 2014). "Self-Awareness! Rediscover Matt Mahaffey's Returning Cult Band Self". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Fowler, Shan (1997). "Self: The Half-Baked Serenade: Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck (October 1997). "Self: The Half-Baked Serenade". Spin. Vol. 13, no. 7. pp. 143–144. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  9. ^ Laurent (September 15, 1997). "Self - The Half-Baked Serenade". Indiepoprock (in French). Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  10. ^ The Half-Baked Serenade (Media notes). Self. Spongebath. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ "Top 75 Alternative Radio Airplay". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 54. February 1998. p. 55. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  12. ^ "CMJ Radio Top 200". CMJ. Vol. 52, no. 545. November 10, 1997. p. 6. Retrieved November 20, 2024.