"Cannon" is a song 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 October 24, 1995. It was the band's debut single, distributed simultaneously with their album '' Subliminal Plastic Motives'' by Zoo Entertainment 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 became an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

radio hit, boosted by its

Jesse Peretz Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band that form ...

-directed music video airing on

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 ...

Background and release

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 ...

wrote the song "Cannon" in tribute to Richard Williams, founder of

and manager of his band

. It lyrically incorporates the advice Williams received from others, switching between embracing support and spiting opposition. "Cannon" begins with a

white noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used with this or similar meanings in many scientific and technical disciplines, i ...

sample, leading into soft verses. It instrumentally builds until it rockets into a heavy chorus, using a sporadic guitar sequence and bassline alternating with intense vocals. The song was released alongside the album as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

of ''Subliminal Plastic Motives'' on October 24, 1995. A music video for "Cannon" was additionally released in the same year, directed by

. The video opens with the band eating together, performing primarily in a kitchen with additional shots in various indoor and outdoor locations. Later, they assemble the band's name with

marquee Marquee may refer to: * Marquee (overhang), a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building * Marquee (structure), a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel, theater, casino, train station, or similar building. * Pole marquee ...

lettering outside a Thrifty Inn. The music video ends with the band eating, framed like the opening scene. It aired several times on

, commercially boosting the song. It additionally received radio play on

stations, including

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 ...

Reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' commended the single, calling the single a "dead-center hit". In the context of ''Subliminal Plastic Motives'', the song was positively reviewed by Ryan Schreiber 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 ...

''. Chuck Campbell of ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: '' ...

'' lauded "Cannon" as a "modern-rock hit", likening its lyricism to

the Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ( ...

' song "

Cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

". Laurent of ''Indiepoprock'' additionally praised the song, describing it as the best representation of energetic

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, ...

. Contrarily, Eric Brace of ''

the Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' labeled "Cannon" as uninventive for

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 ...

, comparing it to the works of

Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with Round Hill Music. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bas ...

and

the Dambuilders The Dambuilders was an indie rock band that began in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to Boston. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. Members have gone ...

Personnel

Self *

– lead vocals, instruments, sampler *

Mike Mahaffey Michael Darren Mahaffey (January 21, 1967 – May 25, 2005) was an American guitarist from Kingsport, Tennessee, and a founding member of the Alternative pop rock band Self prior to his death. Before joining Self, he played in several bands, th ...

– instruments 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

*Jim Faraci – mixing engineer,

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 ...

*Sean McLean – assistant engineer *Pete Martinez – assistant engineer *Brian Bottcher – art direction

References

{{authority control Self (band) songs 1995 songs 1995 singles Songs written by Matt Mahaffey