''11 Transistor'' is the debut album by the band Lazlo Bane, which was released on the Almo Sounds label in early 1997.

Overview

According to Lazlo Bane's frontman Chad Fischer most of the record was done on 16 tracks with very few effects with all the songwriting done on an acoustic guitar into a little dictaphone. He also said that the idea was to work with as little as possible and make it sound the best it could, just like old

transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following the invention of the transistor in 1947—which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenient ...

s. The album was recorded through 1995 and 1996 with the input from various musicians to the songwriting and recording. They include Chad Fischer's fellow School of Fish band members

Josh Clayton-Felt Josh Clayton-Felt (May 18, 1967 – January 19, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the alternative rock band School of Fish and later embarked on a solo career. Biography Early years Clayton-Felt w ...

and Josh Freese, Wire Train's Kevin Hunter and Anders Rundblad, Lyle Workman of the

Bourgeois Tagg Brent Thomas Bourgeois (born June 16, 1958) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and producer. He was co-leader of the band Bourgeois Tagg with Larry Tagg, and has released several solo albums. His later work has been classified in the genr ...

and the most notable being

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay's music h ...

who provides guitar and vocals for Lazlo Bane's version of Men at Work's "

Overkill Overkill may refer to: * Overkill (term), the use of excessive force or action to achieve a goal * Surplus killing, when a predator kills more prey than it can eat * Overexploitation, depletion of a natural resource through overharvesting ** Ove ...

". ''11 Transistor'' features all the songs from the band's previous release, ''

Short Style ''Short Style'' is the EP by the American alternative rock band Lazlo Bane released on Almo Sounds label. Overview ''Short Style'' features 5 tracks, 4 originals and a cover of Men at Work's song "Overkill", originally written by Colin Hay, wh ...

'' EP.

Release and promotion

Lazlo Bane was initially signed to an indie label Fish of Death Records and released the song "Buttercup" as a single on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

backed with "Overkill". After signing with Almo Sounds "Buttercup" was included on various promo compilations, including 1996 album titled ''Swagalicious'', which was compiled of the tracks from artists signed to Almo Sounds,

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DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, ...

and Outpost Recordings. "Overkill" was shifted to the A-side and released as single in some territories in 1997 and 1998, while "I'll Do Everything" was released as promo single in 1997.

Music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for "Overkill" featuring Colin Hay was also released. The band went on tour in support of the album later in 1997. Originally released on CD and cassette the album was unavailable digitally until 2020 when it was made available on streaming services and in digital download format. In support of the digital reissue Chad Fischer released a video of the new solo version of the album's opening track "I'll Do Everything".

Reception

The album received positive reviews upon release with critics praising the songs "I'll Do Everything" and "Overkill" the most. Before the release of the album "I'll Do Everything" was named the Song of the Month by Los Angeles' radio

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, 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" (pronou ...

. In the review for the ''

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'', Steven Almond described the album having "great hooks, slinky beats, quirky lyrics" noting, that "the band's playful spirit is best captured on the exuberant opener "I'll Do Everything"". He also called the ballads "dependably entrancing, built around Fischer's mournful melodies and spiced with just enough rhythmic muscle to keep the proceedings from turning maudlin". Sandra Schulman of the ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding B ...

'' described the album as having "crafting hooky, melodic, slightly quirky pop songs" and also said that "many of these tracks have a rough edge". ''

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's'' Adam Webb Teen called the album a "stunning debut" and said that Chad Fischer "combines crafty, peppy pop riffs with his mellowing rough-around-the-edges voice. It's a voice that fits perfectly with each song". In the review for the ''Lollipop Magazine'' Sheril Stanford said that "''11 Transistor'' is 99 and 44/100ths percent pure good times" and called a cover of Men at Work's "Overkill" "a truly outstanding track". On-line magazine ''babysue'' rated the album 4 out of 6 stars and described the music as "lush and full of great vocal harmonies" with the songs being "truly catchy tunes" noting "standaout tracks: "Flea Market Girl," "Buttercup," "Sleep," and "Overkill". A review at ocolly.com described the album as "The quasi-Beatles sound

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comes together beautifully". DeadJournalist of the tsururadio.com called "Overkill" "One of my favorite cover songs of all-time".

Track listing

* On original ''11 Transistor'' US CD after "Midday Train" tracks 12 to 68 are silent and lasting 4 seconds each, making "Prada Wallet" 69th track overall, which starts after 3:48 of silence. The cassette edition simply had 3:48 of silence after "Midday Train".

Personnel

*Lazlo Bane – primary artist *Jon Simon –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

on "I'll Do Everything" *Kevin Hunter – guitar and bass on "Flea Market Girl" * Princess Fresse –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

on "Buttercup" and "Prada Wallet" * Lyle Workman – guitar and bass on "Buttercup" and "View From The Pavement" *

– guitar and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

on "Overkill" *David Dale – guitar on "Overkill" *Dave Collins – mastering *Tony Phillips – mixing *Chad Fischer –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

*Jeff Robinson – assistant engineer

Additional personnel

*Jill Berliner – legal *Keryn Kaplan –

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

* Paul McGuinness – management *Paul Kremen – artist & repertoire *Mary Lynne Barbis –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in Theatre, theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

*Patrick Raske – art direction, design *Mary Kocol –

photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

*William Howard – photography *Lauren Lambert – photography *Molly Amanda Rubin – photographyAll personnel is taken from ''11 Transistor''

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the record sleeve, sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner n ...

References

{{Authority control 1997 debut albums Lazlo Bane albums Almo Sounds albums Albums produced by Chad Fischer fr:11 Transistor