It sounds like the sort of left-field project he might have improvised in one of Late Night‘s “Fred Talks,” but it’s no joke: Fred Armisen really has made a contemporary sound effects album. Now the Saturday Night Live alum and music aficionado has set a release date for the new record.
Armisen will release 100 Sound Effects on Friday, September 26th, via Drag City—the record label he’s called home for a slew of SNL-related releases over the years.
Though its title would seem to suggest otherwise, the album consists of one hundred and one sound effects, ranging in length from just 2 seconds to nearly 2 minutes.
Along with a full track list reveal, Armisen has released seven of the album’s compositions—a collection of sound effects that range from general (“Needle on Record”) to hyper-specific (“Band Sound Check Sound Guy and Band Agreeing for Too Long”; “Sparsely Attended Show Encore with Someone Shouting ‘Where’s Jim?’”). Fans of Armisen’s distinct SNL character work will want to check out “Music Venue Employee Kicking Everyone Out While Throwing Away Bottles.”
As a lead single of sorts, each of the entries above are also available on streaming services as a single-track suite called “Music Venues.”
“I was thinking about haunted house sound effects albums and how fun those seemed to record,” Armisen explained of the album’s inspiration in a statement.
“100 Sound Effects is a fantastic contemporary entry in a classic album category that can be used as a library SFX, or for brain-stimulating deep listening,” a description reads. “Fred’s goal was to create a number of specific and evocative sounds; some follow the basic blueprint, like doors shutting and glass breaking, while others are more abstract scenarios he felt were not always covered on sound effects records.”
The SNL alum and Late Night with Seth Meyers musical director first shared his plans for the record in March on Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, noting that he’d been working on the record for over a year. During the interview, Mulaney played “Car Rental Door,” the aforementioned “Music Venue Employee”, and “Obligatory Laugh” (Mulaney’s personal favorite) for viewers.
Armisen has dedicated the album to Steve Albini, the legendary music producer behind albums like Nirvana’s In Utero, who passed away in May 2024. Armisen explained that he’d wanted to record the album at Albini’s studio in Chicago, but opted not to because of the project’s uncertain timeline. He instead consulted with Albini on engineers he could work with at his home in Los Angeles, with Dave Grohl advising as well.
“Because Steve was so instrumental in making this happen, I dedicate the album to his memory,” Armisen said. “I miss him every day.”
100 Sound Effects will be released on vinyl and digitally. Album artwork denotes the release as “Volume One,” suggesting other installments could be on the horizon.
Fred Armisen is currently touring his live show Comedy for Musicians, in addition to just-announced dates for a tour with Carrie Brownstein dubbed “A Visit From Portlandia.” 100 Sound Effects is available for pre-order now via Drag City.
