''11 Transistor'' is the debut album by the American band

Lazlo Bane Lazlo Bane is an American alternative rock band from Santa Monica, California, United States. They are well known for collaborating with former Men at Work member Colin Hay, and providing the song "Superman" as the theme for the television show ...

, which was released on the

Almo Sounds Almo Sounds was a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent for the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label. The labe ...

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. Previous portable radios used vacuum tubes, which were bulky, fragile, had a limited lifetime, consumed excessive power and required large heavy batteri ...

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 and

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American drummer. A member of punk rock band the Vandals since 1989, Freese has also been a member of new wave band Devo since 1996. He was previously a member of hard rock band Guns N' Roses ...

Wire Train Wire Train was a San Francisco-based alternative rock band, who released six albums in the 1980s and 1990s. History The band was formed in 1982 as the Renegades by two students from San Francisco State University, Kevin Hunter and Kurt Herr. T ...

's Kevin Hunter and Anders Rundblad,

Lyle Workman Lyle Dean Workman is an American guitarist, composer, session and touring musician, and music producer. His music has been widely distributed since his debut on the eponymous '' Bourgeois Tagg'' album in 1986, and is known for his work as compos ...

of the Bourgeois Tagg and the most notable being

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. 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 is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His ...

who provides guitar and vocals for Lazlo Bane's version of

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...

'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 ** Over ...

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

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,

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

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 A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

in 1997. Music video 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 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 sta ...

. In the review for the ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

'', 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, and Broward County, an ...

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

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

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

– guitar and bass on "Buttercup" and "View From The Pavement" *

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

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

*Jeff Robinson – assistant engineer

Additional personnel

*Jill Berliner – legal *Keryn Kaplan –

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

Paul McGuinness Paul McGuinness (born 16 June 1951) is an Irish talent manager. He was the founder of Principle Management Limited, a popular music act management company based in Dublin, Ireland. He was the manager of the rock band U2 from 1978 to 2013. Ea ...

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

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

, design *Patrick Raske – art direction, design *Mary Kocol – photography *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 sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

References

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