The one-man band LMNOP returns this summer with a new album of homemade, left-of-center indie-pop songs. whatNOP dONW7 arrives on July 16.
Active since the early 1980s, LMNOP is the musical brainchild of Stephen Fievet, the originator of the comicstrip Babysue and a longtime creator of lo-fi, eccentric pop music.
He's a Renaissance Man for the pop-culture underground, infamous for his ongoing string of self-published magazines, his home recordings, and his early embrace of the internet (where his comics and one-of-a-kind ramblings found an audience that stretched far beyond his native southeast during the early 1990s and beyond).
With whatNOP dONW7 — an album that was composed, performed, produced, mixed, and engineered by the songwriter himself, with mastering from Jason NeSmith at Chase Park Transduction — he shines a light on the broader range of his artistic abilities.
"The album is a test to see how much mileage can be gotten out of a $15 guitar amp found at a yard sale," he says. (The answer, as it turns out, is a lot of mileage.)
Regardless of its price tag, that amplifier is put to good use throughout whatNOP dONW7. From the punky, electrified punch of the album's opening track, "Things," to the acoustic chords of the closing number, "Milkshake," the album mixes humor and hooks in equal doses, with LMNOP using a mix of analog instruments, modern gear, and digital technology. The album never takes itself too seriously, and yet there's something seriously undeniable about whatNOP dONW7, whose songs feel like the lighthearted reward we all deserve after a long, hard year.
"There are several 'firsts' about this album," says LMNOP, whose history of home recording dates back to his childhood years, when he created DIY cassettes under various fake band names. "This is the first album to be mastered, thanks to the focused expertise of a recording genius who lives in Athens, Georgia. It is the first album to be promoted by an incredibly talented PR professional in New York City. It is the first to feature full color artwork. And it is also the first to feature a bar code (blech!)."
Steeped in the melody-driven songwriting of Roy Wood, Todd Rundgren, and Emitt Rhodes, LMNOP has self-released 11 records, beginning with a self-titled debut cassette that appeared in 1982. His catalog also includes records issued by the French label New Rose and the UK-based label Fierce. Proudly independent, happily obscure, and doggedly prolific, LMNOP turns a new page with whatNOP dONW7... and gets some more mileage out of that $15 guitar amp along the way.