OMGWTFWHEREARETHESONGSBBQ (Systematic Panic Reviews)

[WeaselSlayer]

No one should be ashamed for liking KICK ASS MIC CLIPPING ROCK AND ROLL.

Love,
Ricky

[Edge of LA]

abecedarian,

I agree with you that the song did not have to be "Panicky". I like trying to put darker lyrics with bright music. I tried putting together a gentle song for this fight, but it wasn't working for me.

Maybe if the mix was louder, I would have listened more closely to the lyrics and understood better.

And thanks Ricky for putting my mind more at ease.

[Heather. Redmon.]

ok, here's the rest of my reviews. Sorry for the delay

reviews, continued

K Twins- I can totally see why everyone has said “David Bowie”. I like David Bowie, I like English accents, I like this song… but I wish it had more energy, or was fuller somehow. Also, I was just getting into it when it was over. You two should colab more often.

Motor Monkeys - I like your voice a lot, it is very similar to stuff I like in my everyday real life. More Englishmen! I like the guitars and the drums and, well, I think I like everything about this song, no complaints.

Ricky Swallow and the Blown Loads - First of all, I can’t believe I had to type those words… This somehow could have been a pretty cool song, I suppose, but it sounds so haphazard and slapped together. It’s sloppy, difficult to listen to, and way too long.

Ross Durand- Lyrically, this song sticks with a very literal interpretation of the title, which is great, good lyrics. I’m not too keen on the music or the vocals, but it’s still a solid song lyrically.

Sell Crazy- Another one I really like… this has been a pretty good fight! The vocals are a fun kind of call and response and I think the ah-ha-ha thing that is done to a few of the words is cute. This is very 80’s pop, but there’s nothing at all wrong with that. Even though I cannot remember a single song they sing, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry jumped into my head. I could be completely wrong about that, though.

Steve Durand Durand Durand… haha! No, this is completely different than Ross. Man, these vocals are no good. 9/11, ugh! I watch a lot of Sesame Street, being the mother of a 2 year old, and this reminds me of either Ernie or Kermit singing to children about terrorism. I know that’s mean, but this song just doesn’t appeal to me, musically, lyrically or vocally. Meh. Holly crap it’s nearly 5 minutes long. I’ve gotta break my promise and turn this off.

[Gemini6Ice]

<b>ADD:</b> I really liked this. These days I only actually post a reviewish-thing if I have a strong opinion. I likes the overlapping of choruses/verses, and I wanted more of it. It would have been really cool to have "never say ever" and "tear it up" being repeated for the entire song, with additionally phrases joining in after every verse.

[Gemini6Ice]

Best cover art. ever.

This made my day. Thank you. *blush*

[gduncan]

Thanks for all the Sell Crazy reviews, especially the ones that said nice things .

Abecedarian - production issues aside this has a nice feel to it. The sadness of the vocals does loose its impact after a while. I would have liked to have heard an angry, or something, section in there just to give more impact to the sad vocal when you went back to it. I think that would be my main criticism, that there wasn't any real variation in the song. Oh and the melody for the first part of the ohhs sounds like it came from that awful titanic song by Celine Dion. I was waiting for you to start singing 'and I know that my heart will go on'.

Add - I didn't think I was going to like this until the main beat came in. The repetitive guitar parts are nicely layered and I think everything fits together well. The solo is good when it comes in but looses its way after a while. The best bits are when you slowly build up different parts until you have different vocal lines all going at once. I think you should have made that build up more pronounced after a shortened solo. That would have made the ending even better.

Calfborg - you've managed to create a claustrophobic panicky vibe with your droning synth. The melody lines, vocal or guitar, aren't to my tastes though. Overall not bad but I would have built the droning parts until they burst into a catchy but frantic chorus. That would have made the droning parts seem even more panicky and would have given the listener something memorable to latch onto.

CC and the Creeps - the mixing on this needs looking at, the vocal is way too high. You saved this for me by switching styles as you went along. The initial part I found the weakest of them all, the vocal is trying to cram too many words into some of the lines. It is just a bit boring and I nearly stopped listening before the off beat rhythms came in and made the song interesting. I'd drop the first bit and rebuild the song around the cool, reggae sounding, chorus.

Daj Werkenhorse - the production on this isn't good. The high end harshness on the guitar makes the song painful for me to listen to. That sort of thing immediately alienates most people. Underneath that there really isn't anything to this that would make me want to subject myself to it again.

Hello to Ruin - I think you were trying to be amusing with this.

The Hell Yeahs - this song has too many instruments, adding what sound like slightly different rhythms, in the chorus to really work. It just sounds like a confusing mess rather than the panicky driving rhythm I think you were aiming for. The verse works a bit better and you manage to get a dark chugging force moving, that is memorable, and which I think saves the song.

The John Benjamin Band - I'm embarrassed to say that I like this. It doesn't take itself seriously and you've managed to shape a few catchy hooks. I probably wouldn't listen to this normally but if I was drunk and it was played at a club I would dance around in a suitably foolish manner, which I think was what you intended.

The K Twins - this is very chill out. Some of the singing is a little out but it is still pretty cool. I like the strange drum sounds that you've used, it almost sounds like some cooking pots and a box but it works well. The song could do with fleshing out a bit but other than that it's not bad.

Motor Monkeys - the production is a bit lacking on this, especially the drums, I can't hear the kick at all. The song is ok and the performance is fairly tight. I like the chorus. I can't think of much more to say about it than that, sorry.

Ricky Shallow and the Blown Loads - the overloaded microphone sound just doesn't work. It makes me not want to listen to the rest of the song.

Ross Durand - this doesn't stray from standard blues fair. It is reasonably catchy but not very inventive. I like your lead guitar playing. The ending just falls apart and not in a good way.

Steve Durand - this may be a bit cheesy but the arrangement is pretty good. You're let down slightly by the sounds you use, for your instruments, but they're ok. With a better vocal performance this song would be a lot better.

Cheers,

Gareth.

[Ross]

Thanks to everyone for the reviews and reviews of reviews. I liked the conversation about titles and I guess I'm glad I provoked it. I always enjoy when conversations lead to me having to think hard, and I think I'll have to consider my title assessments a little differently.

A lot of people commented on the way my song "falls apart" at the end and I thought I'd describe what I thought I was doing, which apparently didn't work. I was thinking that the musical falling-apart at the end was sort of representational of the type of social breakdown described in the lyrics of the song - but I guess it just came across as unplanned/poor editing, something like that. [I know this sounds bit like a "manual," but I just wanted to share - I'm not expecting to convince]

Whoever said Songfight! was like crack a couple of weeks ago...well I've never done crack but I'm hooked on this. Great fun, very stimulating.

[jb]

A lot of people commented on the way my song "falls apart" at the end and I thought I'd describe what I thought I was doing, which apparently didn't work. I was thinking that the musical falling-apart at the end was sort of representational of the type of social breakdown described in the lyrics of the song - but I guess it just came across as unplanned/poor editing, something like that. [I know this sounds bit like a "manual," but I just wanted to share - I'm not expecting to convince]

It's interesting (and good) to know that the ending was an attempt at art, rather than just another "I dunno what to do next" sort of thing. I respect that. I think it's important that when someone says something about your song, critically that is, and you learn from it or agree, that you mention it here so it seems less like these reviews are just pissing in the wind.

[Future Boy]

Ooo! Ooo! I lurve the moderation stick!!

[HeuristicsInc]

1: ktwins, add, ross, jbb
2: steved, cccreep, hellyeahs, sellcrazy, abec, daj, motor

abec's is so quiet i didn't realize it was playing.

i voted for add!
-bill

[Steve Durand]

I just wanted to say how fun I think this site is.

I really appreciate the reviews. Especially the ones that offer constructive suggestions.

Thanks, all.

Steve