Two bottles please (House Red reviews)

[Lunkhead]

Did you know a bottle of wine contains roughly four glasses of wine? That's all I've got this week folks, oof.

[MicahSommer]

Looks like we're all too distracted by the Nur Ein to review this fight! LET'S SEE THOSE REVIEWS, PEOPLE!

The Go-Kups - Y’all do a mean Crazy Horse impression! Solid riff, solid solo that runs too long, especially given how short the song is as a whole.

Ian Martyn - Good guitar playing; it’s always nice to hear a little more than just straightforward strumming so your tasteful little flourishes are welcome. Voice is nice but too quiet relative to the guitar - bring it forward with maybe some compression to make it more intelligible. Hard time understanding a lot of the lyrics. There are a few odd glitchy moments in the vocal track, e.g. at 1:03; I don’t know if you spliced together multiple takes or had a microphone glitch or were purposefully going for some effect, but it’s not pleasant. Otherwise this is a decent song.

Levittdown - Nice lyrics with some great images - nostalgia seems to be a common theme in a few of these songs. Your voice sounds confident and secure, though the melody is nothing special, and a few spots, like “it tastes fine,” are pretty awkward. The harmonica is a nice addition.

Macaque Attack - I like the call-and-response between the lead singer and the band. The melody and lyrics are solid, and I like how the melody on the last chorus gets kicked up a notch. That said, the instrumental arrangement is kind of a mess - at times it sounds like everyone is soloing at once. And the hi-hat(?) sound on the off-beats is really fatiguing to listen to for four minutes. Oh, and I don’t think the “intro” adds anything to the song. Sorry, I look forward to your entries but this one didn’t do it for me. Too confident in your win last round?

The Magnetic Letters - The farty bass and plinky drums at the beginning did not make me optimistic for this song’s prospects, but things picked up considerably. The lyrics are excellent, the music is good when it gets more involved, the backing vocals are tastefully sultry, and I don’t even care that that’s not a real saxophone.

Mercury in transition - This is not a terrible song, but it feels too long even at 2 minutes, since it’s basically the same verse 4 times with only variation in the first two lines. Not such a fan of the loose, barely-rehearsed live band feel either.

Micah Sommersmith - Sorry, not sorry.

Paco del Stinko - Great riff, great solo(s), not much else here that grabs me. I was distracted by the ride cymbal in the bridge starting at 1:30: it’s really prominent but it is played only sporadically.

ricochet - The robo-voice is used again to great effect (and a very different effect from last time), although I’m pretty sure I would have been able to understand very little of the lyrics without reading along. You definitely succeed in creating a creepy atmosphere to match the lyrics, though the guitar solo is surprisingly warm and pleasant in comparison.

AWARDS
Best Guitar Solo - Paco Del Stinko (Sorry Go-Kups, I’m a sucker for the slide.)
Best rhyme for “house red” - The Magnetic Letters for “garlic bread” / “nod his head” / “shrunken head” / “phase out lead”
Best general rhyme - The Magnetic Letters for “heroin” / “Australians”
Murderiest - ricochet

[Chumpy]

Go-Kups: You win my favorite song of the fight. Mick Jagger much? Daaaamn. Nobody else comes close to you this fight. I wasn't even going to review this fight since I'm, um, busy, but I felt like I had to give you props for making a great rock song. If this doesn't win I'm going to stand outside Lunkhead's house with with this blaring on a boombox until he corrects what will be an obvious tragedy.

[Lunkhead]

Hey, I just report the results, I don't make them. You should check out the cover of King Arthur's "Red Flag" for more of that Stonesy goodness by I believe the same fellow under a different name.

[genecawley]

The Go-Kups – Well, a pretty slight song, I must admit, hence the endless solo. Best I could do with the time I had (excuses, excuses).

Levittdown – Great song, especially the lyrics. Very picturesque and engaging. Great job overall. 

Ian Martyn - Really liked this a lot. The tune ws great and I like your singing voice. Keep going, indeed.

Mercury in Transition - This has a simplistic and ramshackle fun element to it. I can see the criticisms, but I kinda liked it. It's like you invaded Exile On Main Street and quickly made a recording.

ricochet - Not sure how on point this is with this particular challenge, but it is pretty cool, in a vintage NIN kinda way.

Macaque Attack - My favorite so far. Great combination of song and performance (though I'd lose the introductory ambience-thing in the future. Just my opinion).

Paco del Stinko - Great performance, as usual. Not as outstanding as previous(ly). But good.

The Magnetic Letters - Really got caught up in this by the end. Seems directionless, but then it all comes together at the end (at least for me).

Micah Sommersmith - It's like an alternate universe "Satellite Of Love," and that's certainly not a slam. Great stuff.

[genecawley]

Go-Kups: You win my favorite song of the fight. Mick Jagger much? Daaaamn. Nobody else comes close to you this fight. I wasn't even going to review this fight since I'm, um, busy, but I felt like I had to give you props for making a great rock song. If this doesn't win I'm going to stand outside Lunkhead's house with with this blaring on a boombox until he corrects what will be an obvious tragedy.

Wow. You are WAY too kind, sir. But I'll take it regardless.

I was kinda going for early Little Feat (think "Cold, Cold, Cold"), but it got all Jagger-esque. Not that it's a bad thing. My voice just tends to go that way naturally.

Anyways, thanks so much for the kind words.

[genecawley]

The Go-Kups – Well, a pretty slight song, I must admit, hence the endless solo. Best I could do with the time I had (excuses, excuses).

Levittdown – Great song, especially the lyrics. Very picturesque and engaging. Great job overall.

Ian Martyn - Really liked this a lot. The tune was great and I like your singing voice. Keep going, indeed.

Mercury in Transition - This has a simplistic and ramshackle fun element to it. I can see the criticisms, but I kinda liked it.

The Magnetic Letters - Another great one. Kinda like Kraftwerk meets Gerry Rafferty (look it up). Loved the feel of this one a lot. The Zika joke at 2:45 was a bit odd. Unless it's "dropping like flies" = "killer mosquitoes" kinda metaphor/thing. Probably over-thinking it.

ricochet - Great song. Has a early NIN kinda feel to it, but it really suits it.

Paco del Stinko - An enjoyable, well-constructed bit of power pop, as usual. Really liked the simple slide guitar solo. Perfect.

Macaque Attack - Wow. Another really good song. My only (very slight) complaint would be the Pink Floyd-esque intros. I don't think you need them. But it didn't take anything away from it. Just saying.

Micah Sommersmith - Really good. Kinda like an alternate "Satellite Of Love."


Wow. Another really solid set of tunes here.

[Lunkhead]

The Go-Kups song definitely kicks ass. I love the long solo. Really great.

[Merle Fyshwick]

The standard of this round is REALLY high. I could imagine most of these songs on the radio...all of them, really; different stations, though.

The Go-Kups

This one is better than anything the Stones have done in the last forty years. Keep in mind that I don't know what I'm talking about Stones-wise, but this is a great song. I love the way that the rhyme breaks in the second verse around the Pinot Noir bit and the the words get crammed in - that's rock and roll. Apologies to Stones fans, but I'd take this song any day.

Ian Martyn
This one grew on me. It reminds me of my friend Dave's style, which isn't very constructive since you don't know Dave, but it's a compliment. The New Testament 'new skins for new wine' line is interesting; or maybe I'm not listening properly. Good build up/resolution.

Levittdown

Ha - this one's great. Strictly production-wise, in comparison to Ian Martyn's song (because they're both guitar/vocals), I probably prefer this because I'm not a huge fan of reverb. I really like your voice - THAT's how you hold a note. This song is evocative, but not easy to classify. I never complain in restaurants, and I think that's a safe policy.

Macaque Attack

This one's smooth, and the production among the best this week. It reminds me a bit of English music circa 1991, maybe it's just the long 'a' sound in 'rather'. Memories of watching Rage (music videos) on a Saturday morning, neo-psychedelia, I guess from the raver culture of the time. I'm not sure if it's dead serious or a bit of a send up; it's a solid song though.

Mercury in Transition

Cool voice - I wonder if my mental image of you matches reality. Congratulations, either way. The sparse drums make me think of Bonnie Prince Billy, but they're even more sparse, if that's possible. Could be a good last track/hidden track on a CD, if people still make/buy those.

Micah Sommersmith

This is THE ONE...fuck, dude. I don't think I've ever had such a visceral reaction to a song before, and felt physically ill - and for THAT reason, this is the best song this week. This is a trojan horse of a song... like YMCA; the delivery lowered my defences, then I nearly hurled in my car. It's almost beside the point, but great vocals and harmonies, too.

Paco del Stinko

This song is groovy - makes me want to meet Red from a safe distance. The key change in the chorus is subtle and smart, and the bridge key change is un-subtle and awesome. Yep. I can hear Custard playing this song in my head. It's nice and self-contained, whatever that means.

Ricochet

I'm a fan of vocoder-ish vocals. I'm guessing it's vocoded, and not one of the singing robot plugins I never got to work, because I can still hear a bit of the original vocal underneath. It's not super-intelligible... which I guess isn't necessarily a bad thing. The start seems a bit abrasive, which given the 'we're all dead' sentiment is understandable. The guitar solo is really well executed; the level is spot-on, and the amount of reverb, too. The rapid decay of bass/string synth sound is also a good match.

[Merle Fyshwick]

The Magnetic Letters - The farty bass and plinky drums at the beginning did not make me optimistic for this song’s prospects, but things picked up considerably. The lyrics are excellent, the music is good when it gets more involved, the backing vocals are tastefully sultry, and I don’t even care that that’s not a real saxophone.

AWARDS
Best Guitar Solo - Paco Del Stinko (Sorry Go-Kups, I’m a sucker for the slide.)
Best rhyme for “house red” - The Magnetic Letters for “garlic bread” / “nod his head” / “shrunken head” / “phase out lead”
Best general rhyme - The Magnetic Letters for “heroin” / “Australians”
Murderiest - ricochet

Thanks! When I was labelling the tracks in Cubase, there was one I named Farty_Bass. I gave up trying to find a better sax sound, and the Kenny G one made me laugh so I kept it. The heroin/Australian line is true: My dad went to school with Geoff Chambers, who was hanged in '86 (in Malaysia) for trafficking; it's always stuck in my head, and I guess that line is from my dad's perspective.

The Magnetic Letters - Another great one. Kinda like Kraftwerk meets Gerry Rafferty (look it up). Loved the feel of this one a lot. The Zika joke at 2:45 was a bit odd. Unless it's "dropping like flies" = "killer mosquitoes" kinda metaphor/thing. Probably over-thinking it.

Thank you! When I was writing, I was aware that it sounded like a Zika reference. Mostly it's about Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, and that people were probably oblivious to it back in 1986. So you were not over-thinking it, and I maybe under-thought it. I admire your lyric sleuthing.

[MicahSommer]

Micah Sommersmith

This is THE ONE...fuck, dude. I don't think I've ever had such a visceral reaction to a song before, and felt physically ill - and for THAT reason, this is the best song this week. This is a trojan horse of a song... like YMCA; the delivery lowered my defences, then I nearly hurled in my car. It's almost beside the point, but great vocals and harmonies, too.

The goal of every artist is to move something deep inside the listener... glad I moved something inside you.

[genecawley]

Go-Kups: You win my favorite song of the fight. Mick Jagger much? Daaaamn. Nobody else comes close to you this fight. I wasn't even going to review this fight since I'm, um, busy, but I felt like I had to give you props for making a great rock song. If this doesn't win I'm going to stand outside Lunkhead's house with with this blaring on a boombox until he corrects what will be an obvious tragedy.

Just saw this. Sorry for the delayed response. Thank you very much for the high compliment. Definitely made my day.