Content Warning: Brief mentions of underage relationships and pedophilia.
In 1997, the band Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI) released their demo tape called Crappy Little Demo. The demo had seven tracks on it, and despite two of them being named slurs, the track that seems to attract the most attention is “Panty Shot”. To understand why listening to “Panty Shot,” along with almost every other song released by MSI causes many people to question their morals, it seems important to know a little bit about the backstory behind the band and vocalist Jimmy Urine.
MSI is an enigma when it comes to music. It’s a band that is considered electropunk. Some say they are an industrial group, that they do hip hop, and that they dabble in alternative rock. No matter what type of music they made, one can’t deny their excessive use of seemingly every slur imaginable and morally questionable lyrics. It’s not uncommon for people to listen to songs or artists that have these types of lyrics in them, but it’s another thing when the band is preaching what they’re singing. It all leads to the question: is it possible to separate the artists of MSI from their music and still enjoy it with a sound mind?
It should be noted that the drummer, Kitty, and guitarist Steve Montano of the band seem to be safe when it comes to allegations and fan hatred. The same can’t be said for bass guitarist Lyn-Z and especially vocalist Jimmy Urine. Although there are speculations surrounding Lyn-Z regarding issues like racism, lying, and cheating, most of this is thought to stem from personal jealousy and fan-made rumours since she is married to Gerard Way of popular band My Chemical Romance. Lyn-Z may be safe from these allegations legally, but Urine is not.
In 2021, Urine became a defendant in a lawsuit against allegations of him being in an underage relationship with a 15 year old girl during the prime time of MSI. Urine was accused of manipulation and said to often request that she perform childlike actions during certain moments of their relationship. This is where the concern for the song “Panty Shot” comes in; with lyrics like “5 year old panty shot / I can see in between her legs”, it made people realize that the song that was supposed to be mocking pedophiles may have a truer meaning than anyone realized.
The lawsuit against Urine was closed in 2024 and it seems like the allegations were neither confirmed nor denied. Ever since the lawsuit started, both MSI and Jimmy Urine have gone mute on social media, which seems a little suspicious to me.
Overall, when dealing with Mindless Self Indulgence and looking through their discography, the art seems to reflect the artist. Now, with all of this in mind, it brings me back to the question of if it’s truly possible to separate the individual artists of MSI from the music they produced. I don’t have a clear answer to this. I used to enjoy their music and looked forward to listening to them, but the more I’ve learned about the actual people that make up the band, it’s made me question what I’m actually listening to.
Featured image by Madison Smarr through Canva
