Punk Rock Drivethru (All We Could See At The Window Reviews)

[erik]

I want two large cokes, two large fries, a chili-cheese dog, large Dr Pepper, super deluxe, with cheese and tomato. Oh, and I want all* of you to do reviews.















*NO, ALL!

[king_arthur]

Not sure how long the new songs have been up, but as of 8 a.m. MST (=PDT) this morning, the podcast file hasn't been updated to the "Windows" songs.

Charles (KA)

[Spud]

It's always something.

[king_arthur]

Thank you Mr. Spud. All 23 songs found.

Charles (KA)

[Smalltown Mike]

That BlooTattue track is really really cool BUT the drum track needs a lot of work to keep up with the rest of the song. With great drums this could be really fantastic.

The flute is real?

[Paco Del Stinko]

There are some good tunes, this fight, and some less so. I'll review in the next few days, but a couple of quick comments:

Lot of activity out of Florida this week. Someone's feeling better.

Sven/Mark - This song and your last entry both have a strong Husker Du vibe to them.

Glad to see that the new New Zealand artiste got his mail through.

[Billy's Little Trip]

You can always spot the Caravan Rays songs right away with his boomerang na na naz and ooo ooz. Not the same, but always reminds me of Stone Roses.

Marvin Fairchild's tune would be a great guitar workout tune for me. I hear all kinds of guitar that would work well.

[LMNOP]

That BlooTattue track...

Thanks Mike, this is me. As usual, I had one afternoon to do noisy stuff so, as usual, I lowered my standards near the end. Not an excuse, just the way it is.

The drum loop (kick, snare, hat) was my click and was supposed to come out at the end but I missed the open HH splash so I left it in, turned it down a bit and just erased the tacit sections.

The congas are real and kinda boring to my ear. All the other percussion is real and I'm okay with it. I bought the "cricket" rasp at an art show earlier in the day.

The flute is bamboo.

[Märk]

Terse reviews.

Adam Adamant: Even though I'm genre-biased against this, it is drawing me in a bit. That stuttering voice thing is making me feel kind of sick.
Billy's Little Trip: I'm not genre-biased against this. You should build a time machine and go back to 1992. Then move to Seattle. You'll do well! This will get a voteski from me.
BlooTattue: Whot happenin mon? Him a natty dread! You're taking a predominantly Jamaican black genre and making it sound snow-white. Strangely enough, this seems to work for you.
Blues Manufacturing Facility: Bluesy!
Chadderandom Abyss (tag your f-ing mp3s, plz. kthxbai): WTF is this supposed to be? It's like Wesley Willis, except not as good.
Cobalt Stomach: Yuck. This is boring me.
Easy Collision(tag your f-ing mp3s, plz. kthxbai): Starts out promising, then turns to ubersuckage.
Four Township Water Resources Council: That is the sickest sounds I've ever heard on Songfight. The spoken word thing is kind of cool. This tells a really fucked up story. This gets a vote just because it's so fucked up.
Give Our Regards to the Earth's Core: This is more like it! I'm bopping along to this just fine. Favorite so far, but that's just me. Get's a vote for sure.
Brian L. Frye: Herman's Hermits called- they want their song back.
i.p.: This is good so far. That persistant cymbal crash in the left is annoying me, and distracting from the song. Good song, though. And gets a vote.
Jon Mayor: The starting few bass notes sound *exactly* like Southbound Pachyderm. Nice bass sound. Is there anything else? Okay, there it is. You picked a really bad guitar sound, considering the bass is so badass. And there's no drums. Or singing? This, my friend, is what's known as a 'piece', not a song. I liked it for what it was, but no vote.
Lithium Institution: Phillip Glass called. He... aww, fuck it. You could be witty and say you were going for the Glass vibe on purpose. (window=glass)
Marvin Fairchild: Yessir, that is a steady beat. Aw crap. More techno. And no vocals. Automatic disqualification. Plus, I really don't see how this or the two above could unarguably be inspired by the title.
MC Eric B: This is pretty okay! A bit sappy. Okay, a lot sappy.
Noah McLaughlan: I kind of like this, although it gets a bit schizophrenic. Well produced and sounds good though, so it gets a vote.
Osharenistas: This reminds me of No Surprises by Radiohead. Lush and mellow. Gets a vote.
Paco del Stinko: Ahhh, the classic 'song about getting drunk with a chick'. This is fun and rockin'. That bridge is great. If they ever make a 'Grease 2', this has to be in the soundtrack. Vote.
Short Wheel City (tag your f-ing mp3s, plz. kthxbai): Not mixed very well (the vocals kind of overpower everything) but not a bad song. Gets a vote simply for being a full band song.
Some Guy Called Noel (tag your f-ing mp3s, plz. kthxbai): Nice guitarin', nice singin', good song. G+G is usually pretty boring to me, but this works, so, vote.
Sven Mullet: I was going for a happy-punk feel, hope y'all like it.
The Thomas Jeffersons: If a loud, crunching guitar kicks in, this is going to rule. Nope. Man, this gets boring fast. Hey, wait. This is MC Eric B's song. WTF?
The Weakest Suit: Nothing special, really.

Other than a few standout tracks, this was a pretty meh fight. Why did so many people bring teh techno? Fuck, I hate techno.

[Jon Mayor]

Jon Mayor: The starting few bass notes sound *exactly* like Southbound Pachyderm. Nice bass sound. Is there anything else? Okay, there it is. You picked a really bad guitar sound, considering the bass is so badass. And there's no drums. Or singing? This, my friend, is what's known as a 'piece', not a song. I liked it for what it was, but no vote.

It's all bass.

[Kill Me Sarah]

FYI - My song is now on there as well, thanks Spud!

I will try to review later, but just after one listen I wrote down i.p., Hand Formula and Noel...great songs.

[rogerroll]

First thing that came to mind while listening:

Adam Adamant: Very... SNES. Like... Top Gear or something. Those samples seemed... Completely unnecessary.
Billy's Little Trip: Picked bass? Tisk, tisk. The flange on the guitar throughout is a little distracting. It rocks.
BlooTattue: Mix could be better. (Mostly, the guitar(?) is way too loud.) A good character sketch of the island-jam/reggae thing.
Blues Manufacturing Facility: Grain silo reverb is distracting. Detracting. And... Huh.
The Chadderandom Abyss: I feel like Denyer did this kind of thing better. Probably the accent.
Four Township Water Resources Council: Interesting batch of samples. If a little disgusting. Warranted a second listen. Granted. And... It wasn't as good as I thought it was. What you're shooting for, I think, is a little group called Grand Theft Goodwill. Check them out.
Cobalt Stomach: Uninteresting.
Easy Collision: Questionable lyrics. Questionable panning. Clapping, really?
Give Our Regards to the Earth's Core: Intro reminded me a lot of a hi-fi Carol Cleveland Sings. Otherwise... Meh.
The Hand Formula: My kind of song. Ukulele? Toy xylophone? Charming! Probably my favorite.
i.p.: I wish the guitar didn't sound so... "I just recorded this at my desk." It doesn't fit atmospherically with the rest of the recording, which is otherwise pretty interesting.
Jon Mayor: Uninteresting, noodling.
Kill Me Sarah: Bass would fill this out nicely. Melody was not particularly captivating.
Lithium Institution: Uninteresting, electronic noodling.
Marvin Fairchild: Nine Inch Nails. Too long.
MC Eric B: Cheesy, but charming.
noah mclaughlin: Boring.
Paco del Stinko: Fun pop-rock. Lacks a memorable melody line.
Short Wheel City: Boring.
SomeGuyCalledNoel: Wish there were more from the melody. I think it lacks something because you sit on that one chord during the verse for so long.
Sven Mullet: Gives me a sort of... Teenage Fanclub vibe. Or maybe really early My Bloody Valentine, with much clearer vocals. Fun, but not memorable.
The Thomas Jeffersons: I... Really hate this bass line. And then it goes into double time arbitrarily.
The Weakest Suit: Uninteresting.

Votes for: The Hand Formula, Billy's Little Trip, and i.p.

[EasyCollision]

Easy Collision: Questionable lyrics. Questionable panning. Clapping, really?

I can tell you didn't like the song. At all. But I think you misunderstood the lyrics. I was not implying I was going to be the "next big thing" (ha, maybe in my dreams), but I was singing through the point of view of a celebrity whose mind has been taken over by the media. Not me. And the clapping at the end is meant to be taken as a joke. It's not supposed to be an indication it was a great song, which unfortunately most people will automatically assume.

[Caravan Ray]

Glad to see that the new New Zealand artiste got his mail through.

Yes - I finally found an email account that would work. Many thanks to the fightmasters for a bit of deadline stretching - I may be 23 hours ahead of you all down here, but that doesn't make up for also being 20 years behind.

As to the new band name (taken incidently from a line Basil Fawlty used to Mrs Richards on an old episode of Fawlty Towers I watched the other night*) - I just thought it was about time that I separated some of my more potty-mouthed and infantile lyrics from the rest of my body of work. So, be aware that any future G.O.R.T.T.E.C entries will come with a "Parental Advisory" sticker implied.

(actually, Basil said "MY regards" - but "our" provided a more pronouncable acronym)

You can always spot the Caravan Rays songs right away with his boomerang na na naz and ooo ooz. Not the same, but always reminds me of Stone Roses.

Yes, I see what you mean. I never really liked the Stone Roses much as a band - I found them a bit boring, but the song "Fool's Gold" is an absolute classic. Somehow that song does seem to have seeped into a lot of what I do - especially in my heavy use of bongo loops (though they are not present this week). I have never copied them consciously, but I have also noticed a similarity occaisionally when I re-listen to old songs.

I hope my broadband connection comes through soon so I can actually listen to these.

[Kill Me Sarah]

I have a request for anyone of the more production-savvy listeners, I'd be extremely appreciative to here reviews of my song from a recording/mixing standpoint.

My song has 7 tracks:

Track 1: MXL 990 condenser placed in the kick drum sound hole and panned center.
Track 2: MXL 991 condenser hung centered over the drum kit and panned 33% right.
Track 3: MXL 991 pointed roughly 4 inches from 12th fret and angled toward the neck and panned hard left.
Track 4: MXL 990 about a foot away from the acoustic soundhole and panned hard right (same take as track 3).
Track 5: Main vocal sung into the MXL 990 and panned center.
Track 6: Main vocal recorded by secondary dynamic mic about a foot away from the other mic (experimenting for ambience) and panned center.
Track 7: Harmony vocal sung in the MXL 990 and panned 33% right.

Edit: Also,
*Limiters on vocal tracks with 0db threshold and very light reverb on all the vocal tracks.
*EQ on Track 1 20 is at +3, 63, 200, and 600 at +6, 2k, 6.3k and 20kHz all at -10 (trying to isolate the kick drum and reduce the snare and hats).
*Light compression on Track 1
*EQ on Track 2 20 at -7, 63 at -5 200 and 630 at -4. Then 2k at +6, 6.3k at +5 and 20kHz at +3 (conversely trying to isolate the snare and hats here and reduce the bass). As you can see I really have no idea what I'm doing w/ EQ so just tinkering with the sound.
*Limiter with approx -5db threshold on Master track.

Okay, I think that's mostly it.

[MC Eric B]

Märk - I sometimes get my songs covered by other Songfight artists because I am almost always the first person to post lyrics in the Songfights that I enter, and that gives other artists more time to use my lyrics for their song. I am happy when one of my songs gets covered, and that is one of the reasons I try to post my lyrics so quickly each week.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Märk - I sometimes get my songs covered by other Songfight artists because I am almost always the first person to post lyrics in the Songfights that I enter, and that gives other artists more time to use my lyrics for their song. I am happy when one of my songs gets covered, and that is one of the reasons I try to post my lyrics so quickly each week.

Maybe it's because you're a brilliant lyricist and after they read your lyrics in the first post, there is no reason to read any further and the words overwhelm them to the point that they become comatose and record a song with your lyrics. Next thing they know, they wake up naykeez in some cornfield outside of town mumbling lines from your song.
like the waves crashing on the rocks.....like the waves crashing on the rock....


.....or what you said. But I'm pretty sure that I'm spot on.

[Märk]

Jon Mayor: The starting few bass notes sound *exactly* like Southbound Pachyderm. Nice bass sound. Is there anything else? Okay, there it is. You picked a really bad guitar sound, considering the bass is so badass. And there's no drums. Or singing? This, my friend, is what's known as a 'piece', not a song. I liked it for what it was, but no vote.

It's all bass.

After another listen, I see that you're using an overdrive or something and playing higher notes. I still like it, but it's still not a song

[MC Eric B]

Märk - They did make a Grease 2 in 1982 but it flopped. Maybe if Paco's song was in it, the move would have been a hit.

[MC Eric B]

Adam Adamant - Creative and different, but not something I would want to listen to twice. I like you voice though on the chorus.

Billy's Little Trip - This song rocks. Great job.

BlooTattue - Very catchy, well sung, and I like the chorus a lot.

Blues Manufacturing Facility - I like the music part, but the singing and lyrics sound more like a parody of the blues than real blues.

The Chadderandom Abyss - It was hard to hear/follow your lyrics at times, and that is not a good thing since what's left is the music, and that part is not too good or catchy. I think your rapping is fine, but the problem is that is does not really match the beat at all. It's like you did the rap part first and then added music later. I think the song would be much better if it just had a good beat to match the rap.

Cobalt Stomach - Nothing about this song grabbed me into it. After the first 30 seconds was over, I liked it a lot better though once the first chorus ended and it got slower, and then the end section was good too.

Easy Collision - I thought the song was boring. Maybe if the vocals were louder it would have drawn me into it more.

Four Township Water Resources Council - I think the vocals should have been louder. You vocals are actually a good match for the beat. An interesting song, but not something I would want to listen to twice.

Give Our Regards To The Earth's Core - Good catchy song, but I think the vocals are mixed too soft, which makes it get boring after a while. Overall still very good though.

The Hand Formula/Brian L. Frye - I like your vocals a lot. The sparse music is well done, but I think "real" background music would have made the song much better, since the song has a great melody.

i.p. - A good song, although nothing about it thrills me. The falsetto chorus is very good.

Jon Mayor - I don't like instrumentals in Songfight, and this one was not even that interesting.

Kill Me Sarah - I don't know much about mixing, but the mix sounded good to me. The vocals are nice and pleasant but maybe they could have had more range (not in terms of notes, but more the way lyrics are sung), to make the song more interesting. Even though the notes change, everything seems kind of the same a lot throughout the song. It is hard to describe, but the song needs some "oomph". It is still a very good song though.

Lithium Institution - I don't like instrumentals in Songfight, and this one was not even that interesting. I liked the 2nd half of it better.

Marvin Fairchild - I don't like instrumentals in Songfight, and this one was not even that interesting. I liked it better than the previous 2 instruments I just reviewed though.

noah mclaughlin - Good.

Osharenistas - I liked this a lot.

Paco del Stinko - Well done and catchy.

Short Wheel City - Good song. I think the vocals for the chorus should have been louder.

SomeGuyCalledNoel - Good song. I like your singing. I got a little bored of the song about 1/2 way through.

Sven Mullet - Very good song. I can't think of anything to criticize about it.

The Thomas Jeffersons - I always like having people do cover versions of my lyrics, but I like my version better this week. My main criticism with your version is the that verse and the chorus sound almost the same. I liked it much better about 2/3 of the way through the song once the singing stopped, and the beat changed and slid into a groovy jazz feel. Unlike rogerroll, I liked the bass though.

The Weakest Suit - I like your singing and guitar playing. Nothing about the song thrills me, but still good.

[melvin]

Since I'm not fighting this week, I'm doing something more difficult: reviewing.

Adam Adamant: This is pretty catchy. Seems like it should be annoying, but it’s actually quite infectious. Cool, but not a vote.

BLT: Wow man, great recording/mix. Not totally loving the melodic content, but totally respecting the slick execution, and feeling amused by the vocal delivery. Good job.

Bloo: Some of these instrumental sounds are a bit too corny, but the vocals are great and the tune is pretty darn catchy. Solid lyrics too. Vote.

Blues: This is pretty crappy.

Chadder: This is really crappy.

Cobalt: This has potential. Rick Rubin could make it great.

Easy: This has potential. Five years of solid practice could make it great.

Township: I had to hit “skip” within seconds of this starting.

Regards: A quiet and tinny mix is holding this back, but it’s still really poppy-good. Band name is also smile-inducing. Vote.

Brian: I hate to sound like a jerk, but this song makes me want to slap you. Perk up, ya slob!

IP: Yikes! What voices! This is a really interesting and good-sounding track. Not a style I would normally listen to… not a style I can even readily define. But I like it. Vote.

Jon: Super boring.

KMS: Since you asked, the mix sounds pretty decent to me, at least on cheap headphones. What this song really needs is a stronger melody. To my ears, that would probably mean reaching a little higher in the choruses and/or finding and repeating a catchy hook of some sort.

Lithium: Super irritating.

Marvin: See above.

MC Eric B: I like your heart, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to accept those synthesizer loops in place of actual instruments.

Noah: Those pulsating, low voices remind me of Art of Noise. But this tune does not hook me with its lyrics or melody.

Osharenistas: Very lovely playing, singing and recording. The vocal harmonies are really nice, but the counter-melodies are even better. Beautiful! Favourite song of the week by a mile so far. Vote.

Paco: You’re awesome! This has such a catchy riff, and you totally crack me up, as usual. Great track, and another vote.

Short: I like the guitar playing in this, but the song drags and the chorus vocal part sounds kind of weird… weirdly bad.

Some guy: Wow, you’ve got talent! That’s always exciting to hear. Great performance of a really good song. Definite vote.

Mark: I like your sig.

Tommy J: This feels rather dull and meandering.

Weakling: I think this is a good song that’s just screaming out for a super-massive, Oasis-style production job, including a big solo at 1:57 followed by a more succinct ending.

Several outstanding tracks this week, and several bad ones. For those keeping score, I voted for Bloo, Regards, IP, Osharenistas, Paco, and Some Guy.

[ujnhunter]

not really reviews... just some notes on some songs... if anyone cares.

Adam2xAnt: this would be much better without the repeaterDS program... i liked the beat and your vocals.. but... not the repeater...

BMX: did it hurt to get that backwards song fight! logo tattooed on yer eye ball?

Bloo: play that funky music white boy... not bad

Chad: I thought my songs were strange... but this is... well... :::

4TWRC: you rock... but you already knew that...

hANDfORM: nice vibraphone... it's sexy.

i.p.: cool chorus... not too shabby.

John Mayer: I don't like your name... I like your bass, I was looking for some cool ass tool song to start, it never did...

Sarah: fail... everyone knows it's the East Coast...

Lithium: I'd like some before I start listening to this...

MarvintheMartian: I want to Shaq-Fu you like an animal!

mc eRIC: not sure what you use on your vocals... but either it's your voice or you use the same effect on it on all your songs... I'm not sure that I like it... nice lyrics tho.

Noah McNugget: i like the BumBum Bum vocals... heh. Is that a sample/keyboard?

Osharenistas: Gregory Page?

Stink-Master-Flex: you are rockin' lay it down! I like the woah-oh-oh ho-ho!

ShortWheelCity: been messin' with the spiders from mars... pretty cool.

somedoodnamednoelyoliepolieolie: Not bad... fer GnG... purty good.

SvenHalfShitMan: this reminds me of something... not sure what... cant... put.. my finger...

MrJefferson: see above...

that's all folks...