Write It Up (Beat Me Up Reviews)

[codywalkerjr]

Cody: Great thing about Songfight is the variety. Love this tune. I instantly had an image of the setting in my head. Can’t decide how I feel about the sound effects. Distracted me at first, but then . . . what the heck. Why not? The length? Gee, is there a rule that a country tune can’t be over 3: 25 long? Nope.
.

LOL I seriously considered taking them out or turning them way down but when deadline time comes, just have to submit whatt ya got,..
thanks for the review. I just submitted a '7 Days' entry after doing 25 different mixes on it . Kindof a weird one.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I listened in time to vote and here are super brief and quick comments.


Berkeley Social Scene Probably the heaviest BSS song yet, that I'm aware of. I like the sleazy blues riff. Chorus is better after a few times around. Could be whittled down a smidge but doesn't drag.


The Chocolate Chips
I thought this was going to be an intro but settled in fine as is. Nice whale synth tone. The melody is good and this should fare well in voting, I would think.

Cody Walker Jr. Good concept and with more time, you probably could've pulled this off better. It misses the mark but is not a failure.


Doug Funnie I dunno. Sandbox gangsta rap? I like the punch sound best and the kiddy voices that accompany.

Lonbobby featuring JC Great atmospherics and modern, or now, sound. The melody is pretty good and the production very nice. Should fare well in the voting, might win.


The Lookouts I like the looseness of this and the near strained vocal works fine. Has good 70's vibe and could've fit in the Boogie Nights soundtrack.


Nobody, et al. Very pleasant tone and mellow vibe. Vocals are decent, could probably be tighter, no? I like the patient tempo and the guitar sounds very good. I'm not smart enough to figure the lyrics, like if they're telling me something deeper than I can grasp. Hey, no big swifty am I!


Paco del Stinko Cheap punk attempt that I cranked out in a couple of hours. All based around the opening line. Leads through a little Pignose amp.


Sausage I like the warped record bass line intro. What the hell is that? Lots of direct effects here but well utilized. Nice chorus and backing vocals esp. You have a good rock voice.


Snappy & Floyd You are my reverse hero. Still pushing too far sometimes, but basically fearless.


The Sky Looks Pissed This is good and sloppy,I can't help but like it though I maybe shouldn't. Pavement-y at times though I'm not familiar with a lot of their material. Makes me want to get some cheap equipment and jam in a garage. That is, somehow, a compliment. Nice melodies and hooks peeking through the skudge.

[longfellowstreet]

Just gonna review the ones I voted for...

Berkeley Social Scene

Love the guitar tone and vocal tone. Vocal treatment reminds me a lot of Helmet's "Unsung". Doubled? Delayed? Dunno, but I like it. 'Sup with the drums? They sound muffled... usually y'all's production is great across the board. Is that an eBow I hear in the background? I would've never imagined you'd use a... ok, just kidding. Delayed guitar solo takes it form the 90's to the 80's, not that there's anything wrong with that. Nice rhythmic change going into the chorus. Trying to think of a criticism, nothing really jumps out at me other than the drums - again, 'sup with that? Vocals maybe a little nasal, could use a tiny dip in the 2-3k range? I'm bein' reaaaal picky here. I like, really good stuff. Vote.

Cody Walker Jr.

Of course, this is totally my kinda thing - Uneasy Rider meets Boy Named Sue, with a catchy chorus, harmonies, country-folk instrumentation and some random found-sound stuff thrown in for good measure. You gotta give Cody mad props - someone unexpectedly drops a banjo off at his house one afternoon and he throws it right into a song, whether he technically "knows how to play banjo" or not. I used to say shit like "hey, for a drummer you write, sing and play stringed instruments pretty damn good" but I think he's now officially past the "but yer a drummer!" thing and firmly into the realm of Just Being A Musician. The spoken vocal bits are fun, but it's the damn chorus that gets stuck in my head. For days. Mallory and I now walk around in public singing "He beat me up, he kicked my ass and he robbed me"... trading harmonies... more than we should. Cause it's catchy like a muthafarker. "Lady, what the hell do you think?" Hehehe. The only thing I really have to criticize here is that the wrap-up is a bit weak, but it's not a hanging offense. It's the kind of thing that you maybe fix when you don't have a week-or-so deadline to make a Fight. I mean, really, some people can't finish a song in months, let alone days. I like the BSS song (if you cats weren't all the way across the country I'd say let's hang and beg y'all to jam something out), but this one's dear to my heart and I think it's the most interesting of the fight.

Nobody, et al.

I like this. Vaguely Ben-Folds-esque chord progressions. Timing feels a little forced. I like the lyric imagery. Produced nicely. Harmonies are a bit off, I'm wondering why they come in late and then wander away a bit. I like the instrumentation a lot, nice, simple, clean... I like that you are tapping on the guitar body or whatever it is for your rhythm track, instead of using an annoyingly simple drum machine.

Paco del Stinko

This one's just fun.

[Lunkhead]

Re: BSS drums, Ken wanted a break from drumming, and mixing. I volunteered to sub in. Turns out it's pretty hard to play drums, and mix drums. Bear with me, I'm hoping if I can do this for a while it will be a good opportunity for me to improve at both.

[Paco Del Stinko]

You'e doing fine, Lunkster. Just keep at it, as you know. I miss my kit. But if I listen to my playing and mixing from earlier entries to the last ones that had real drums, the playing and mixing were much better after a couple of years. Comparitively, of course. I tuned them before each session, too.

Longfellowstreet Glad you had fun with the tune! I am first to admit I don't always run deep, thematically.

[longfellowstreet]

Lunk - hey, that's groovy - only way to do it is to do it. I thought the playing sounded just fine. It's cool that you went for it instead of bailing on this week's fight cause playing and mixing drums wasn't your usual thing. Hehehe I oughta make Mal mix the next one.

[signboy]

We weren't able to get in on this fight, but THANK YOU, THANK YOU Paco for for your opening line. That's all I needed.