Come on, Pa! Tell me about those (Better Days Reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Please post your lyric in the lyric thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12022

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[sleepysilverdoor]

This is a huge fight!!!

[Lunkhead]

Oops, I put a typo in a band's name. I will fix it when I have a chance.

[furrypedro]

Great artwork

[crumpart]

Great artwork

Thanks! I’ve gotta remember to start flattening my photoshop files before I reduce the size down, because a filter on the text layer did some weird shit that I didn’t notice until I uploaded, but it sort of suits anyway.

[Kamakura]

Sheesh! This is more like a drunken brawl in a football stadium than a fight. I'll need a month to write reviews... wicked fish, Crumpart!

[roymond]

Oops, I put a typo in a band's name. I will fix it when I have a chance.

There will be lawsuits

[vowlvom]

Oops, I put a typo in a band's name. I will fix it when I have a chance.

I've just realised what the typo is and it's extremely funny to me.

I'm rushed for time this week so no reviews from me, but I've been listening tonight and this is a pretty wild fight, lots of really good songs and great fun hearing all the instabands and trying to figure out who is involved in each one!

As well as the instabands, really loved Glenn's song (mmm chunky guitars) and the thanks, brain / brian and Wimpy Piano Boy tracks which are both super melancholy and poignant.

[SamECircle]

OK, i'm a brand-newcomer to songfight so forgive any trespasses & don't take me too seriously but here are my thoughts on the songs!

pigfarmer: Great recording quality esp the guitar tone! I think something to experiment with is internal rhyme and multisyllabic rhyme, IE having more than just the last syllable of a line rhyme with the prev. line

idiot kings: cool chord progression! I like the up-an-octave vocals. The way "contagious" gets mispronounced syllabically (CUN-tay-JUS instead of cun-TAY-jus) to fit the rhythmic scheme bugs me though. And the selfie line is a little on the nose.

phlebia: OMG the funk! It sounds the way smoked meat tastes. I feel like for vocal reasons maybe this needs to be lifted a few semitones, it sounds like you are singing toward the bottom of your register for much of the verse, which mutes some of the emotion. Really dig it though. Got my vote.

seemanski: Your production is super cool. Love the gritty synths. Not sure I've heard a straight waltz (in terms of the rhythm) with that kind of production b4. The hook doesn't really grab me or feel super connected to the verses, but the verses are quite strong!

shoehorn tc: A very classic, straightforward track. "Simon and Garfunkel" style vocal melodies are nice. I think making sure your lyrics are grounded in a specific place /time would help them seem more vivid.

sly eli: Your voice rocks and I love the way the production evolves through the track. I wish the lyrics reflected the musical growth of the song, but they end in much the same place they started, which limits the sense of evolution.

brown word & the big whine: Very funny in a punk way! I wish the vocals were higher in the mix. And I prefer the lyrics that feel like they are "about the singer" vs those that are just airing random grievances.

lichen throat: I think your vocals are having a hard time finding the rhythm of your instrumental. Creates a very off-kilter effect, which does sorta work for this song, but ultimately feels counter-musical.

jp nickolas: Very heavy! I think the vocals are consistently somewhat sharp. With lyrics, you've found some great rhymes but I think you can space them out more.

walrus volcano banker: Wow you have a beautiful voice. While it's very simple, the chord progression works perfectly for the song, and I love the interplay of happy instrumental with sad lyrics, always a classic. "Cranberries" vibes. And your homegrown percussion in particular is just fantastic, I think you could use it even more and put it higher in the mix though. VERY strong. Got my vote.

moon logic: very charming production style; love the mix of intimate vocals & bass with spacey production flourishes. However, I wish there were a clearer B-section in your instrumental; by the end it feels a bit plodding. Relatedly, it feels a bit like you are building toward a chorus that never arrives. Overall I dig it though. A really cool sound.

night sky: Love the "Arrested Development theme song" guitar line. And OMG the horns!! The vocals sometimes sound like they are dragging, almost as if you want the song to be faster. I think if you bumped the tempo up 25% this would take on really sweet, almost ska-adjacent vibes. Also: Make sure you know what the hook is, and put some extra juice into the hook! Your energy is great but it feels very similar throughout. Peaks and valleys engage the listener.

duncan martin: You have some great great lyrics and I love the bounciness of your vocal line! It sounds like you want there to be a rhythmic pulse on the two and the four, but your drums are emphasizing the one and the three instead, so you need something (maybe the bassline?) to be really hitting the two and four to give the bounciness your vocals need to feel like they fit into the pattern. I think filling out your instrumentation would really bring this one to life, but I dig it nonetheless!

the magnetic letters: Love the 'outsider art' feel, despite which there's a lot of polish here! Your lyrics are so odd and compelling! Wish it were a minute longer, even if you were just repeating the chorus a few times.

sweeney toad: OK i kind of dig the silly chiptune beastie boys vibes of this! Very different from everything else. I think during the raps you probably don't need the layered vocals, and your choruses could fit more cleanly into the rhythm of the instrumental (you are rushing slightly.) But really joyful and silly in a great way.

timtomflufken: Sounds great. Love the combo of sung chorus with almost-rapped verses. The piano adds a lot too. I think you need two more lines in your chorus, a couplet that rhymes with "the way that this will go." Or you could go, "Time for a refill? I don't know, but if it's on the house, then I'll drink to that!" Something to that effect. Got my vote!

brother baker: Stellar guitar tone and vocal recording. Shades of Joyce Manor in a great way. Your chorus feels wildly different from the rest, like we're cutting to a TV theme song. Leaves the whole thing feeling slightly disjointed, but the great performance does a lot to sell it.

moody vermin: Wow, seven/four in the verses? is that right? Dig it! I don't know quite what your vocals actually 'mean' overall; you spend a lot of time telling us what you're not doing but not as much time telling us what you are doing or thinking. Grounding the words in a time & place would probably help the song. Goes hard though.

kamakura: Cool, deep & dark instrumental; I think your lyrics are slightly too literal but i like how the production vibes play against the lyrical vibes.

sumner sloane: Something about this mix sounds really muddy, but it sounds like hearing a cool song on an AM radio that's not coming in too well, which I love. Super fun retro lyrics and style. Because it's stuck in my head, it's got my vote.

venison rebels: Yes sax!! Super polished. I listened to some Cranberries after walrus volcano banker's song and you have some similar tonal stuff going on too, especially on the line "smell those cities burning" which is the same interval as just before the chorus of of 'linger.' Something to work on would be incorporating more moments of poetry & ambiguity in your lyrics, they feel very straightforward.

thanks brian: You have a beautiful voice, and your lyrics are simple but nuanced in a beautiful way (especially because you really know how to sing them.) The production is very stripped back, but it works! No real element of surprise... but just for clean elegance, it's got my vote.

gross tones: Great bluesy feel, but a little shapeless; a clearer chorus would help.

oratorical orator: Kinda bill wurtz-y! His songs work in part bc he has such a developed sense of jazz chording, I think learning about chording techniques could help develop your songs. Dig the weirdness!

glenn case: Smart, carefully considered chord progressions; this really feels like a full, finished song. Some clever lyrical moments too. I wish there were a place where the guitars back off for a second to create a different mood/texture, but some of that is just personal preference.

firebear: A gorgeous couple bars with a kinda klezmer feeling that turns into Beatles at the end. Doesn't quite become a song.

wimpy piano boy: I'm super jelly of your piano playing. Very musical theater, not a bad thing at all. A few times I could tell what your rhyme would be before it hit; that can be a great tool if you lean into it & use it on purpose but a few times here it feels slightly basic. Elsewhere, you rely a bit too much on slanty & imperfect rhymes (wide / time / minds for example) for my taste. But man... you are very proficient at your instrument and your singing is very strong too.

[FireBear]

firebear: A gorgeous couple bars with a kinda klezmer feeling that turns into Beatles at the end. Doesn't quite become a song.

Thank you! I think I might get that "not a song" a lot this week. I wasn't planning on submitting, but then I had an idea at the 11th hour and decided to submit a little diddy/interlude type song this week. All my other extra time all fell into the Brother Baker song.

[sleepysilverdoor]

phlebia: OMG the funk! It sounds the way smoked meat tastes. I feel like for vocal reasons maybe this needs to be lifted a few semitones, it sounds like you are singing toward the bottom of your register for much of the verse, which mutes some of the emotion. Really dig it though. Got my vote.

Hah, I was deliberately singing low and not particularly loud...because I was doing my vocal tracks at 715 am with a sleeping baby strapped to my chest. I actually recorded every part of the track with a baby strapped to my chest. The funky bass is cause of my new (to me) DOD FX25B pedal.

[Duncan]

@samecircle That's an impressive marathon of listening and reviewing, much appreciated. I think you made a compliment sandwich (open or closed-faced) for pretty much everyone. Thanks for the comments -- I think you nailed it with the drum+bass advice for my song. I'm a dabbler in many, but a master of none when it comes to most instruments. I spend most of my time on words and rhymes and chords/melody. Hopefully I can get a buddy or two to join me for a recording session in some upcoming fights.

[Lunkhead]

I'm about to try to fix the typo I made in a band name. Things may break while I do that, specifically the link to that band's mp3. But maybe other things too. Whee!

[Lunkhead]

OK, "thanks, brian" is now "thanks, brain", and, late song added by ... Lunkhead!

[Caravan Ray]

and, late song added by ... Lunkhead!

Most rigged SongFight ever!!!

... but enough of that

Will we have disclosure of who the Instant Bands are? Or is is secret until voting? Or is it somewhere else and I missed it?

Spoiler alert. I am in one. I’m in the one with the best song.

[Kamakura]

... I’m in the one with the best song.

Of course you are.

[roymond]

I’m in the one with the best song.

Oh, wow! I don’t think we’ve ever collaborated before this. Guess I should buy a new dress for the video?

[mo]

I’m in the one with the best song.

Oh, wow! I don’t think we’ve ever collaborated before this. Guess I should buy a new dress for the video?

Try not to wear the same one as me this time, the red carpet reporters will savage us

[ken]

Will we have disclosure of who the Instant Bands are? Or is is secret until voting? Or is it somewhere else and I missed it?

Spoiler alert. I am in one. I’m in the one with the best song.

I think I'll let each group reveal themselves. I would suggest putting the group members with your song lyrics in the lyric archive. That way the information is easy to find when Niveous goes through the entire archive again in 2040.

For the record, timtomflufken is Ujn Hunter, Vom Vorton, fluffy, and myself.

[mo]

Definitely the least guessable instaband