(Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

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king_arthur
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(Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by king_arthur »

just in case FM is waiting for somebody to start a review thread...
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by thehipcola »

ha - love the clickbait headline. Nice.
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by Jim of Seattle »

Gert Very nice. I like all the switches in arrangement, keeps me involved the whole time. This is quite an ambitious production, but you pull it off. I have a hard time hearing the lyrics, and it sounds like there might be a story going on here that I'm missing out on. VOTE

glennny This one suffers from having a hard time understanding the lyrics, and the song sounds like the lyrics are really the main thing. This is especially true in the chorus. Which is a bummer because it sounds like it's a fun song.

Jerkatorium I wanted to like this one, because it has an infectious energy, but I think for me the tune and changes aren't interesting enough. It seems to be in need of a memorable hook. As it is it's too forgettable. Nothing really to complain about, just leaves me cold.

King Arthur Fine as always. The minor iv is a continually refreshing choice. Lyrically, after the first two verses I've got the idea and want you to take me somewhere new. The bridge phrase length is the same as the verses which bugs a bit, and lyrically I don't "get it". Miss Danvers? Doesn't even rhyme all that great with "answers". Then in the final verse it's just another creepy girl, but it doesn't seem like you're saying anything new. And it seemed odd that you forwent the "creepy" rhyme in the last verse. All this adds up to what feels like you phoned this one in a bit.

Micah Sommersmith Feels like a first draft of a song that will eventually be really good. I like the clarity of the scene you're describing in the lyrics. The half-rhymes all the way through bug me a lot. It's like ALL of them are half rhymes. I've loosened up on that somewhat over the years, but this goes too far. The joke of "kind of" vs "super" and then switching them around is a good idea. The way it's placed in the tune however doesn't really underscore it enough to work for me. I think it would work better if the "kind of" and "super" fell on the downbeats. Another way to do it would be to swap "nice" and "creepy" instead of swapping "kind of" and "super". "you thought I was super nice and kind of creepy, but really I'm super creepy and kind of nice". Something like that. See what I'm getting at?

Paco del Stinko Like it, but it's an unpleasant listening experience (probably intentionally). The weird changes are interesting and fit the lyrics. Lots of specific imagery. Not much else to say, good job. VOTE

Pepper Jane This sucks and you suck!!! Just kidding, you said you wanted harsh criticism :-). OK. So this is pretty darn cool. The short length is actually a feature of the coolness. I got pretty tired of the same two chords over and over, and after you said "No" I wanted that to feel like the end of a verse, or something to signify a boundary between two separate ideas. Maybe this is what you're going for, and I don't know enough of your music to know, but I wish it didn't sound quite so much like you were making it up as you went along, which this does. The piano fills work really nicely. I like this a lot, but it has a ton of unmet potential, even at this short length. Could use more attention to its overall shape. VOTE

ruby and the ryans Hey, 3/4!! Hmmm.... Sounds like you had a lot of fun with the pitch correcting plug-in. Maybe too much fun. This song has a bizarre structure. It's like one very long verse followed by one very long chorus. The song feels crowded to me. Lots of effect-laden instruments, and multiple vocals all doing different thing. It feels out of control.

The Semolina Pilchards I don't think I can make out a single word of the lyrics. It also sounds like the vocal line in the verse is in a different key from the band. Which is weird, because YOU seem to know what you're singing, because the double-tracking in the lead is so tight. This one's hard to get through.

<something> Calico Pretty fun. Pretty long. You are more successful when you aren't forcing rhymes. I don't think you need all three animal verses - hornets AND dust mites AND roundworms. Keep two. And I don't think the environment verse belongs at all; it diminishes the impact of the Trump verse by implicating us all as super creepy. Going straight from dust mites and roundworms right into Trump is funnier. (Also, I read that both bragodocious and bigly are actual words that he used correctly, though neither is in common use today of - except by him!) I'd also speed the whole thing up a bit. So, cut one animal verse, cut the environment verse, speed it all up, you're down to maybe four minutes. Now you got something! Lastly, a lot of mic popping, either don't sing directly into the mic or buy a popper stopper.
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

gert - Great riff(s) to start, and the interpalay between the guitars is tasty. Verse vocal trade offs work well. I almost think that the chorus is like another verse, but it soon becomes tasty sweet. The bridge is great, better with each listen, but might be more trippy than creepy. Eh. Works for me regardless. The ending is divine. What's to criticize or suggest, really.

glennny - Theremin pan flute! Nice touch, but makes it more spooky thaan creepy. Funny, it's like all happy and sunny and the Theremin brings the spooky yet playful element. Nice arrangement if it ends abruptly. Watch your vocal pitch at the start of some lines. Prob make for a good animated video, I'm sure you could pull it off.

Jerkatorium - No manic BPM attack! I don't understand. Nice to hear things breathe, those tasty melodies and airy backing vocals. The pre-chorus is probably my favorite part, but it's so close, with all the sections being so good. Almost sounds like a Glennny guitar solo, very well done. I like this more with each listen.

King Arthur - Love the minor key shifts at the start under the restrained guitar lines. The guitar almost sounds like an electric sitar during the phrases between vocal lines. The melody and lyrics are good, but I'm very impressed, and feeling more of a caveman, by the excellent chord structures. You sure are on a roll, man.

Micah Sommersmith
- Low key Meatloaf song. Ha! Not an insult, honest. You definitely win the award for creepiest lyrics of the week, by a mile. Please tell me that this is character, not from persoanl perspective. Dig how it rolls into the chorus, nice piano work throughout too. The almost jaunty music underscores the creep factor big time. Good work!

Paco del Stinko
- I roughly based each verse on a different patient at the state hospital where I work. Hopefully the dissonance in the bridge comes from the weird chords and not the vocals. Mostly.

Pepper Jane
- Certainly a ton lighter than last week, my goodness. It probably could have faded out after telling Supe "no", riding the mmm-mmm-mmm. Not because of the man comment, but because it would imply the contentedness of the narrator in feeling safe or no need for rescue. You've left him powerless, just turn your back and finish your book or tea or whatever.

ruby and the ryans - I think this is the creepiest song, overall, this week. The wierd pitch manipulated vocals over the very cold digital thunk of the song. Goes overboard at times, all that pitch shift stuff, but remains effective. Kind of an incomplete song, structerally, but then again, I don't know that I'd want to hear that trilly vocal chorus too many times.

The Semolina Pilchards
- That intro...what does it remind me of. Police maybe, there and elsewhere too, perhaps. But very Glennny riffs and modulations interspersed. HUGE guitar solo sound to start, missing only a huge, slow, dive bomb to peel my skull apart like an orange. Creepy/lite/creepy arrangment works. Vocals well done here too.

<Something>Calico - I like the approach here: kid, mom, facts, but maybe better as part of your upcoming children's album, not as a single. If you're not already planning that, alongside last week's entry, then get planning! Easy to understand, informative, well sung, grody at times, too long, but clever and unique. Needs a change somewhere in there. Cute Donald twist, if late. Unfortunately, braggadocious is a real word.
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by Toby Roktot »

1. Tie... Glennny and King Arthur
2. Take your pick...
3. ...
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by MicahSommer »

<Something>Calico - Great vocals - if that’s one person doing both verses, it’s impressive. Vocal melody and lyrics are pretty good, though I think you need to cut either the Trump verse or the environmentalist verse - pick the point you want to make and zero in on it. Otherwise it feels unfocused.

Gert - Hot damn, you may have won this one just with that opening riff. Tasty tasty guitar work. The rest of the song doesn’t quite live up though. Rapping is pretty good but rhythmically just a little off. I like the super creepy breakdown that starts halfway through, though a little disappointed when it built and built and built only to back off again in the “really didn’t think it was that creepy” ending section. I would have loved it to end with a bang.

Glennny - Instrumental is great, I love the acoustic guitars, the theremin, and the weird touches here and there. The vocal melody is hit and miss - I like the “su-per-cree-py” hook, but a lot of the phrasing is very odd, like on “very bad looking” where the melodic stress doesn’t really line up with the natural stress of the words.

Jerkatorium - I’m loving this one - it’s a sweet little love song with great hooks, excellent production, and great vocal and instrumental performances. A couple very small complaints, because I feel like I should offer some sort of critique: the words “strange” and “chaste” at the end of the first and second verses respectively feel crammed in - they are too important lyrically and also too phonetically dense to just get a tiny little eighth note. And the bass guitar is a little clunky especially during the verses - maybe would work better as a warmer/rounder synth bass or something more interesting than plain quarter notes. Otherwise, as I said, this is a great tune.

King Arthur - Very clever lyrics, full of great lines. Musically, it gets the job done, though the melody is not particularly memorable, and I’m not fond of the tone on the lead guitar.

Micah Sommersmith - I’m pretty happy with how this came out. I improvised the vocals the last few times through the chorus, which I almost never do. I think it sounds nicely spontaneous though it does mean there are some interesting pitch issues. Lyrically, I hope it’s clear that I (Micah) am no fan of the narrator, who points to other people’s misbehavior to wave away his own - sound familiar, reading the news lately? Of course I turned this in before the Trump video became news, so I can pride myself on being accidentally relevant!

Paco del Stinko - This one has all the hallmarks of a classic Paco tune - offbeat lyrics, high energy, great backing vocals, nice guitar work. You are nothing if not reliable. Doesn’t feel very risky though, and the only part that really sticks with me afterwards is the great little bass run after “my hands are in my pants.”

Pepper Jane - Hmm, I think I’m so used to profundity and insightful lyrics that this little novelty song feels like a missed opportunity. But I guess we all get to slack off sometimes - and you’ve got a point, creepy could be another word for man.

ruby and the ryans - The childish vocals make this one creepy in a way that the other entries this week aren’t. Cool auto-tuned polyphony in the second half, but I think it goes a little overboard - more restrained would have been more creepy.

The Semolina Pilchards - I like the instrumental bits, including the spacey guitar riffs and the epic solo. The vocal melody or lyrics don’t really do much for me. The staccato backing vocals during the last chorus were a nice touch.
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by Chumpy »

Gert - This is great, and in my estimation the best song of the fight. Part 1: Killer funk-rock riff + on-point white-boy rapping. Part 2: Prettier sung 'eyes wide open' section. Part 3: Boards of Canada bloopy trippy section. The arrangement goes 1,2,1,2,3,2. My main complaint is that 2,3,2 section at the end (over 3 minutes) is too long. At around the 2 minute mark, my ears really wanted a return to that funky guitar riff, and I had to wait over three minutes not to get it.

Glenny - Not sure about the Theramin, sometimes it can sound cheesy, but I think its usage gets better as the song goes on. I really like how you panned it left at the start, and then right during the instrumental section, and then in both channels at the end. The precussion sounds you use in the chorus are a nice change-up. I struggle with the vocals on this song though. They have that too-much-gain-in-the-signal-chain-somewhere distortion and are at times strained, like on that line that ends 'very bad looking'.

Jerkatorium - Not sure the space insects at the start work, they sound kind of cheesy but I like them more as the song goes on. My complaint with the lead vocals is that they're strained in places ("and baby it's a good thing") and have spots of nasty sounding sibilance. Bridge and guitar solo are my favorite parts.

King Arthur - This song is well arranged, performed, and produced. Musically it was a pleasant listen, but I found my self turned off by all the on-the-nose rhymes. The first one that I grimaced on was 'shirt/hurt', and then later 'creepy/weepy/sleepy'. Just goes to show you can't please everyone. Some people are turned off by too many slant rhymes, some people are turned off by too many obvious rhymes.

Micah Sommersmith - Really enjoying the creepy storyline and I especially like the 'meet me/creepy' rhyme. I dig your nerdcore stuff, but I have to say, it's nice to hear your singing voice again. The vocal melody in the bridge really works, and I like that creepy little laugh at the end. It took me a few listens to really get into this, maybe it's the sparse G&P arrangement, I think my ears wanted guitars.

Paco del Stinko - Here are the guitars I wanted! Got some great crunch and WAH tones here. Lyrics are definitely creepy, sounds like you have some unique challenges at work. You do such fun stuff with the BVs, like on the chorus they sing 'freaky' and then when they switch to 'creepy' you sound like your actually a bit dissapointed and repulsed, great sublte voicing. Way to end on that big rock guitar solo.

Pepper Jane - The guitar and piano work really well at the start, sounds like a 70s hit to me. It cracks me up how you clear your throat before doing your Super Man voice. This seems like a bit of a throwaway song for you, but I still enjoyed it. The mood you create with just your guitar, piano and voice is pretty remarkable.

Ruby and the Ryans - Lots of rich layered sounds here, and the production sounds great, but nothing really hooks me. I really like the bells before the 1 minute mark. The weird warbly tuned vocals are interesting, but I'm not sure they really serve the song.

The Semolina Pilchards - Liking the 80s new wave sound and the crushing solo. The overall musical feel of this song is pretty great, but the vocals need way more clarity, because they're really tough to make out. After about 10 listens of the first verse, this is what I was able to come up with:

she drives by my house late at night
electric cosplay, no sir
just the buzzing of the hungers of buford
rage in a video

the volume's way off
because you must be a heed
honey, she cares about me
driving with the longing of hair

<Something>Calico - Your singing style reminds me DJ Ranger Den. Fun but long. Lots of creepy stuff in here, and I laughed in places. Great singing, but the music needs some change ups and variation to really hold my interest for nearly 7 minutes.
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by thehipcola »

Jerkatorium
I'm liking the mix right off the top - nice. Nice change in the groove in the prechorus - nice structure work. Chorus fits perfectly - but I don't like it much. Too obvious, musically-speaking - for my tastes. But that's just an opinion, so ymmv. 2nd time thru and I think it's not the chorus per se, but rather the instrumentation of it. It's too light, needs a bit more edge/dark... Great bridge and nice work on the solo - great guitar work.
I think what I like most about this track is that nothing is blown-out, it's all executed with skill and control and it shows. Vote for sure. Extra points for C.H.U.D. reference.

The Semolina Pilchards
Swirling guitars always get me - early points here. Wasn't expecting that change to the verse. I find the vox hard to understand - they sound really thin sonically. Nice hook! I like songs that challenge me - intro to verse to chorus not obvious changes here, but I like them 2nd time through.. nice. Back to the intro second time through sets the solo in a bit of an obvious way - but won't deduct points. But 1 point lost because the solo is too loud - the drums disappear. This is a good track! Possible vote. I like the b/g vox at the end - nice touch.

Glenny
Theremin ftw. :) Vocals are a bit crispy - a bit of reductive eq elsewhere in the track would give your vox space to sit without over hyping the high frequencies. Nice change to the chorus with that latin-flavoured beat... heh. Glassy synth in the 2nd verse is a cool accent. I like how it climbs into the chorus in a non-obvious way - cool work. 3rd verse with a bridge-ish breakdown in each line.. it's cool, but I'd rather have a real bridge. Bringing it all back at the end - I'm a fan of that. Nice job!

PepperJane
Either this is a really off the cuff, streamofconsciosuness thing - or there's lots of unspoken story here. I guess the fact I'm wondering about that suggests success on some level - I want to know! You're voice is awesome! I want to hear it not recorded on an ipad or whatever. The music is great - song is fine. Too short, the edits or punch-ins with what sounds like a finger tapping a screen or something, distracting - but I do really dig your voice!

Gert
I'll recuse myself - but man it's always fun when Gert can get it's shit together and squeeze a SF in.

Something Calico
This is very creative! After the dust mites, I find the vehicle/motif to get a little tired and I'm longing for a third part. That said - so far this strikes me as a great children's song. Yep, the a/b over and over pattern is not appealing to me - BUT - great singing! The lyrics were good - creative and I liked the child/mom parts - good job with the voicing!

Ruby and the Ryans

Similar voice to Something Calico. I love the groove off the top! I have a hard time pulling the chords out of this song.. are the voices too loud? Maybe the bass could be louder, and whatever is chording (guitar?) Love the drum sounds and groove. Feels very unfinished, and vocally like a work in progress. Cool ideas here though.

King Arthur

Love the minor chord at the top of the intro progression heh. Reminds me of Jimmy Buffet - in a good way. Classic King Arthur! I love the constant guitar lead answering the vocals. Wish the drums were more prominent. This song is a good homage to it's kind - cute and funny. Nice!

Paco del Stinko

I like the poppunk vibe here. Not many songs start with vocals on the 1 and I like the confidence of that! Nice work. I wish the verse/chorus had better separation musically. LOVE the bridge! Great work - the hall verb floating around is great. Possible vote!

Micah Sommersmith
I like it. The lyrics are well done. The piano and voice sound uninteresting, sonically - but that's for mixfight I guess. :) I like the reverse play of supernice and kind of creepy, but it almost slips past unnoticed - maybe something could have been done to accentuate that clever bit. The emptied out chorus that climaxes on that same clever reverse needs to be much bigger!! Great song! great lyrics! The production doesn't support it as well it could - but I dig what you've done here - nice.
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by Smalltown Mike »

Sorry, just reviews about a couple tunes.

Something Calico: Great tune. Really creepy, nicely recorded, nice vocals on both voices and great, odd lyrics. My only complaint is that the Trump stuff seemed heavy handed — there was too much of a lesson in it all. And as it's been said, it had probably one verse too many. A bridge would have been nice too, but really nice song. And creepy.

Ruby and the Ryans: This started out soooo strong, but lost me near the end. Really creepy music, strong vocals,. The autotuned stuff felt like you were taking the easy way out, though. I don't feel autotune is ... creepy. Could partly be a personal preference, though. I'm old. Fuck autotune.

King Arthur: Nicely recorded song, catchy and all. But what's creepy about not letting one's hair down? Having only met her sister? I don't buy this woman being super creepy, or even creepy at all.

Gert: I can't help but wonder what the singer did when he was away from the mic for two minutes, before returning to say that he didn't think what he did was THAT creepy. What did you do? MY GOD, WHAT DID YOU DO?
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by king_arthur »

Thanks to all who did reviews this week, I fear I'm coming up short again...

Did want to mention that there is a little "backstory" to my song this week... this guy is dating a girl named Kara Danvers, but he hasn't figured out that she's actually Supergirl. So there's just this weird stuff about her that doesn't make sense, but it's really more about the super than the creepy. If you're wondering why, in the last verse, "out of this world" doesn't rhyme with "super creepy" when I worked so hard at making everything else rhyme so precisely :-)

Anyway, this week's entry was about one thing but I was trying to write it so that it worked even if the listener doesn't know the secret. Mixed success... some lines worked better than others...

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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by MicahSommer »

Congrats Jerkatorium!
"you did a skillful job pulling off the sexy" - RangerDenni
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Re: (Super Creepy reviews) you won't see anywhere else. #7 is jaw-dropping...

Post by boltoph »

Smalltown Mike wrote:Gert: I can't help but wonder what the singer did when he was away from the mic for two minutes, before returning to say that he didn't think what he did was THAT creepy. What did you do? MY GOD, WHAT DID YOU DO?
Here's one possibility! "In the dark with your eyes wide open..."
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