''Breakfast with Girls'' is the third studio album by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band

Self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

, released on July 13, 1999, by

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

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 ...

. It is the band's first and only published album on DreamWorks. Its songs were mainly written and composed by

Matt Mahaffey Matt Mahaffey is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, and recording engineer best known for his band Self (band), Self and his composer collective Cake in Space. Early and personal life Mahaffey grew up in Kingsport, T ...

, the band's lead member. The album prominently maintains a

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

soundscape with elements of

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. Three singles supported it; the first, " Paint by Numbers", received a nomination for Song of the Year from the Nashville Music Association Awards, while the third, "Meg Ryan", was the album's major single. Upon release, ''Breakfast with Girls'' received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its inventiveness but critiqued its complexity. It peaked at number eighteen on the CMJ Top 200 chart, the band's best-known performance. Lead member Matt Mahaffey wrote a large majority of the album based on his life, and anger at the major

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. A

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, it follows a young man in his 20s as he struggles to deal with his

abusive Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

girlfriend, a smoking addiction, and difficulty managing his finances in a world he has become disillusioned to, and no longer understands.

Background

For his debut album, '' Subliminal Plastic Motives'' (1995),

's lead member

focused on guitar arrangements and incorporating

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

. Following its release, he frequently appeared at rock radio stations, performed at venues within the genre, and received invitations to strip clubs from radio personalities and other music industry colleagues. Mahaffey's strong disinterest in this lifestyle led him to drop his guitar usage on his second album, '' The Half-Baked Serenade'' (1997), citing the first album as a bad first impression. He continued to hold the mindset when making his third album, declaring the project to be "anti-rock".

Production

After signing to

, a larger budget allowed Mahaffey to work with various acclaimed

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

and

producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...

for the album, including

Ken Andrews Ken Andrews (born Kenneth Andrew Doty; June 18, 1967) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter. He was born in Seattle and attended film school in Los Angeles before his band Failure received a record deal from Slash Records. Ca ...

Failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

Richard Dodd Richard Dodd (born April 25, 1965) is an English cellist, recording artist and musician. He has appeared on numerous records beginning from The Three O'Clock's Album Sixteen Tambourines, and spanning different musical genres in Pop, with acts ...

, and

Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 199 ...

. He additionally recorded with a full orchestra for some songs, led by

the Nashville String Machine Nashville String Machine is a musical collective comprising session musicians, based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Members of the group have been credited on records dating from 1972 to the present, although the group was formally formed ...

. Sessions primarily took place at

Ocean Way Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but Oc ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, with additional recording done at the Bennett House in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, Mahaffey's home in

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

, and Treasure Isle in Nashville. Mahaffey composed each song's instrumental before writing lyrics, prioritizing a wide range of expression. Mahaffey spent his weekdays working on ''Breakfast with Girls'' while allotting weekends to work on '' Gizmodgery'' (2000), an album recorded entirely with

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...

. Mahaffey wrote and recorded "Suzie Q Sailaway" for inclusion on the latter, but was requested by the label to put it on the former. He subsequently re-recorded the song with a full band, wishing to contain toy songs to ''Gizmodgery''. This process delayed the release of ''Breakfast with Girls'', which, combined with the track's shift in style, led to a retroactive dissatisfaction. Despite having Self under contract, DreamWorks decided against releasing ''Gizmodgery'' under the label. Late in development, DreamWorks executives told Mahaffey that the album didn't have any viable

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s. In retaliation, he wrote "Uno Song" in two days as the "prettiest pop song" possible. Named after the card game Uno, it was intended to appeal to the band's female audience and become a hit single. The song is Mahaffey's first project in

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

, thus the album's only non-

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

song. The track's files were lost during production, leading the song's final version to be a rough mix. Instead of "Uno Song", the label chose "Meg Ryan" as a single, a love song centered around the actress of the same name. Overall, Self spent two years creating ''Breakfast with Girls''.

Release

A demo of "It All Comes Out in the Wash" appeared in volumes one and two of ''Soaking in the Center of the Universe'',

sampler album A sampler or promotional compilation is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase an artist or a selection of artists signed to a particular record label. The format became popular in the late 1960s as record labe ...

s released by

in January 1998 and March 1998, respectively. The second volume additionally featured a demo of "Placing the Blame". The lead single of ''Breakfast was Girls'' was " Paint by Numbers", which is included on the soundtrack of the film '' Dead Man on Campus'' (1998). It released through

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and DreamWorks Records on July 21, 1998. Director Alan Cohn picked the song as a theme for the main character, Josh Miller (

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film '' That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in '' An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles i ...

). A website for the band later launched in promotion of ''Breakfast with Girls'', advertised to feature new

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

files daily. "Meg Ryan" was released as the album's third and final single on May 25, 1999, marketed as the album's main single. ''Breakfast with Girls'' was delayed multiple times, first reported by

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

to have a release date of August 25, 1998. In later issues, the magazine projected release dates of March 2, June 29, and July 14, 1999. The album eventually released on July 13, 1999, published through DreamWorks and Spongebath. It is the only studio album Self released through the former. ''Breakfast with Girls'' was distributed on CD, cassette, and vinyl. The latter was delayed in production due to a lack of commercial demand. Reissues of the album on streaming services are managed by

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 ...

, who absorbed DreamWorks once the label shut down.

Cover artwork

The cover artwork of ''Breakfast with Girls'' shows Mahaffey and a woman walking together, largely obscured by the band's logo on a black background. Physical copies feature numerous more photos, each focusing on different band members. This design was conceived by Brian Bottcher, who previously did artwork for ''Subliminal Plastic Motives''. He was inspired by the 1968 film '' The Party'' and its promotional cardboard lobby cards to make ''Breakfast with Girls'' artwork resemble a

film poster A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

Reception

The album received mixed reviews upon release. Gabe Besecker of ''Woof Magazine'' stated that the

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 Wale ...

focus of ''Subliminal Plastic Motives'' led ''Breakfast with Girls'' to initially receive a negative reception for its

style, but is retrospectively regarded as "a masterpiece". Barry Walters of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' reviewed ''Breakfast with Girls'' with a 7 out of 10 rating, complimenting Mahaffey's creativity and style fusions alongside the project's emotional vulnerability and quirkiness. Carlene Bauer of CMJ also praised the album's glossy, hook-driven pop, appreciating its fun instrumentation and mix of heartfelt and ironic lyricism. Vincent Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave ''Breakfast with Girls'' 2.5 stars out of 5, criticizing its overly intricate presentation and lack of melodic appeal while commending its diverse musical styles and experimental composition. Nick Mirov of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' rated the album a 6.5 out of 10, highlighting Mahaffey's ambitious production and clever songwriting but stating that it often suffers from overcrowded ideas and mismatched elements. At the 1999 Nashville Music Association Awards, "Paint by Numbers" was nominated for Song of the Year, but lost to

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

's " This Kiss".

Track listing

Sample credits * "What Are You Thinking?" embodies portions of "Chew, Chew, Chew, Chew Your Bubble Gum", written by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

Buck Ram Samuel "Buck" Ram (November 21, 1907 – January 1, 1991) was an American songwriter, and popular music producer and arranger. He was one of BMI's top five songwriters/air play in its first 50 years, alongside Paul Simon, Kris Kristofferson, Ji ...

and

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. The ...

, as performed by Ella Fitzgerald. * "Breakfast with Girls" contains samples of "It Gets No Rougher", written by Hank Shocklee,

Keith Shocklee Keith Matthew Boxley (born January 2, 1962), better known as Keith Shocklee or Wizard K-Jee, is an American record producer and DJ. He was an original member of Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad. He has contributed his talent to several albums incl ...

, Eric Sadler and J.T. Smith, as performed by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

. * "It All Comes Out in the Wash" contains samples of " Moanin' at Midnight", written by

Chester Burnett Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

, as performed by

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

Personnel

Self *

– lead vocals, instruments * Mike Mahaffey – electric guitar, acoustic guitar (all tracks), bass (6, 12, 13), xylophone, clarinet samples (8) * Mac Burrus – bass (all tracks),

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...

(1), harmonica (2),

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

(9), trombone (11) * Chris James – piano (1, 4, 6, 7), B-3, vox (2, 6), toy piano, xylophone (4) *Jason Rawlings – drums (4, 7, 11), percussion (6, 12) Additional musicians and arrangement *

Nashville String Machine Nashville String Machine is a musical collective comprising session musicians, based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Members of the group have been credited on records dating from 1972 to the present, although the group was formally formed ...

– strings (7, 13) *Richard Griffith – saxophone (9) *David Jellema – horns (11) *Chuck Lee – string arrangement (7) *Ron Huff – conductor (7) *Chris McDonald – string arrangement, conductor (13) Technical *Matt Mahaffey –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

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 ...

(all tracks),

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

(5) *

– mixing engineer (1–3, 6–13) *Csaba Petocz – mixing engineer (4) *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He 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 Zeppeli ...

–

mastering engineer Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source ...

*Richard Williams – executive producer *

– engineer *Bobby Dufresne Jr. – engineer *Jeff Balding – engineer *

– engineer (all tracks), production (13) *Shawn McLean – engineer (all tracks), string engineer (13) *Joe Baldridge – engineer *Chris James – engineer *Glenn Spinner – assistant engineer *Aaron Swihart – assistant engineer *Joe Costa – assistant engineer *Brian Garten – assistant engineer *John Saylor – assistant engineer *Allen Sides – string engineer (7) Other *Michael Ostin –

artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing, and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a l ...

*Brian Bottcher – art direction and design, photography *Brooke Niessner – art and photo assistance *Kathy Morgan – photography *Doug Payne – photo assistance *Zumwalt, Almon & Hayes – legal

''Brunch''

''Brunch'' is the first EP by American

band

, released through

and

. It was given to fans who pre-ordered ''Breakfast with Girls'' as consolation for its multiple delays.

Background

Mahaffey originally wrote and produced eighteen songs for ''Breakfast with Girls'', but DreamWorks Records cut five. Some of these were picked to appear on ''Brunch'', while all five appear as bonus tracks on vinyl copies of the album. The first song, "Fliptop Box", consists solely of indirect references to

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

. Mahaffey struggled with

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

at the time, so he wrote the song in a failed attempt to quit.

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1999 albums 1990s concept albums Self (band) albums DreamWorks Records albums