When The Drugs Kick In - Reviews
Some fine stuff here. Interesting how some of us come through these Christmas days…
Berkeley Social Scene:
10 minutes! That's what I call a trip! As a proghead I appreciate longer stuff and improvising. Hazy vocals. Very psychedelic, much reverb. It floats and floats. Personally I think that it would profit from a solid chorus I could cling on to about every 3 or 4 minutes. The repeating 'When The Drugs Kick' phrase gets too lost within all that hazy floating. But anyway it's a cool approach.
The Freezing Hands:
I love this wavy/punky riff. I really love when the chorus kicks in. Sounds a bit dangerous like Glenn Danzig. This might be my favorite this time. Although I don't like the muddy mix. It lacks some punch and some clever ideas seem to be buried within the mix. (I don't know if I can do any better but if you like providing me your stems then I would love to try!)
heine:
Musically it starts off with a bass/drum line in Simon Gallup/Boris Williams style. Maybe it becomes monotonous after a while. But it never ends to keep pushing forward.
Lyrically… well…, it may be a bit preachy but the chorus deals with something Johnny Rotten said about drugs. No matter what he tried it always ended feeling bad. So, he stopped trying, saying something like: 'I want to use drugs. I don't want to get used by them.' The verses (especially after the first chorus) are about the experiences I had when I was working for the social welfare department many years ago. The hardest part was having junkies/alcoholics as clients. When they came clean/sober to my office all of them were lovable, tender, gentle souls. When they came stoned/drunk all of that was gone, like they were a shout-out straight outta hell. You could watch them committing a slow suicide. And all of them had a history why they stepped into that trap. (Abusive parents e.g. …) It still haunts me to this day. I totally understand Neil Young singing in Needle and the damage done: "I sing the song because I love the man; I know that some of you don't understand …"
High Vines:
Nice. The harmonies remind me of some first half of the 70s music. The solo/break-part is genius. But I can't get the rhythm together; starting with some kind of shuffle (on guitar) but when the drum machine kicked in, playing straight, it feels like setting a brake on the flow of the song. Is it only me who feels this way? So, why not record two versions? One shuffling loose and one for the charts with a straight drum beat throughout.
(There's only one song that comes into my mind where straight and shuffled parts blend/switch into each other nicely: the 'Do you have a clean mind' vocal part of Gracious' 'Heaven'.)
Jim of Seattle:
Same concept as last times. Musically quite mellow (and kind of a pleasing trip). What annoys me a bit is the synthetic sound of the strings (which later remind me more of an oboe). I'd love to hear that with real instruments.
The John Benjamin Band:
This one is funny! There should be a lot more handclaps within the chorus (and maybe some chatting noise in the background) to pretend a big party going on. A nice singalong with a melody that sticks in my head, now!
Johnny Cashpoint:
In my head I hear this one as a funny punk rock song. So, I'd prefer a straighter beat, maybe a bit faster. More guitars would do it for me. I don't know if all of them were sampled. Some sounds (maybe a sax?) sound too artificial. So, I keep waiting for a Green Day cover of this one...
The Pannacotta Army:
Wow! Performance and production are superb! Very tasteful from start to finish! So, this one is also one of my favorite songs this time.
As a non-native speaker I am not too sure if I dug the lyrics completely this time. So, it is about you caring about your girl who took some drugs?
I just can't figure out the hows and whys.