Bawdy Los Angeles-based alterna-pop band Sexohol has released their debut album “Enjoy!” in a unique fashion — the band is selling it on Apple’s iPod shuffle. You can buy a 512MB shuffle with the album on it for US$109, or a 1GB shuffle for $159 — both are available through the band’s online store.
Sexohol founder and front man Roger Quickly told MacCentral that his band’s inspiration for selling the album with an iPod shuffle came to them after they realized how integral the iPod had been to the album’s creation.
“This album has mostly only ever lived on Macs,” Quickly said. Sexohol had been using iPods to shuttle tracks from location to location, and as they’d been doing mastering and final mixes, they let their friends and colleagues listen to the album on an iPod shuffle.
“People really liked the iPod shuffle and asked us where we could buy them,” said Quickly.
A local band in Los Angeles, Sexohol has been playing out for about a year. Quickly describes Sexohol’s sound as “music for hedonists and shedonists … like John Lennon, [Garbage lead singer] Shirley Manson and [Nine Inch Nail’s] Trent Reznor in a threesome.”
“We’re all about good times and fun. The focus of our music is about relationships,” said Quickly. Quickly is joined on stage by bassist and vocalist Golden Delicious, and they’re backed by the Bacchanal Band. “It’s totally coincidental that we’re a sextet,” Quickly joked.
Unsigned to a major label, Sexohol’s debut CD will be coming out in April on Satyrrific Records. Putting the album on the iPod shuffle gave them a head start, said Quickly, and a memorable marketing vehicle. The songs themselves have been added to the iPod’s data storage area — when you get it, you can simply drag the files out and add them to iTunes, then sync your iPod and listen.
“When people buy an iPod shuffle, they get it out of the package and the first thing they have to do is wait four hours for it to charge up. This way people can start listening right away,” Quickly said.
There isn’t any Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption on the files, either. “We just wanted to get the music out there so people could enjoy it,” said Quickly.
In a press release noting the album’s debut on iPod shuffle, Sexohol said that despite their obvious affection for the iPod shuffle, their album release is in no way endorsed by Apple.
Sexohol is celebrating the debut of the CD and iPod shuffle release with its Big-Ass Bacchanal at the KeyClub in West Hollywood on Saturday, April 30th. For details, visit the Web site. You can also listen to MP3 files and have a look at pictures of the band performing live.