Wired All Wrong

Is there such a thing as "fate" in musical collaborations? There is if you're former sElf frontman Matt Mahaffey and former God Lives Underwater guru Jeff Turzo. The pair came together after each found himself watching videos of the other's band on MTV's 120 Minutes — the station had confused...

By Niki D'Andrea

February 15, 2007

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Is there such a thing as "fate" in musical collaborations? There is if you're former sElf frontman Matt Mahaffey and former God Lives Underwater guru Jeff Turzo. The pair came together after each found himself watching videos of the other's band on MTV's 120 Minutes — the station had confused the groups' video premières. And after Mahaffey and Turzo met and formed the rocktronica outfit Wired All Wrong, they were sorta stuck together after the unexpected deaths of David Reilly (Turzo's partner in GLU) and Mahaffey's brother Mike (also his writing partner). The result of this bittersweet serendipity is Break Out the Battle Tapes, an album brimming with danceable opiate beats, scratchy industrial guitars, simultaneously dreamy and doomy keys, and vocals that swing between soulful falsetto and grimy rap. Standout tracks include the lead-off tune, "15 Minutes" — a gritty ditty that sounds sort of like Prodigy on poppers — the industrial-pop grind of "Medicate," and "Let Me Go," with its deep, oozing synths and trance-music tendencies. Mahaffey and Turzo may be Wired All Wrong, but everything sounds just right here.

Niki D'Andrea has covered subjects including drug culture, women's basketball, pirate radio stations, Scottsdale staycations, and fine wine. She has worked at both New Times and Phoenix Magazine, and is now a freelancer.

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