Your Life Is In Your Foot's Hands (No Brakes Reviews)

[Billy's Little Trip]

....unless you have a hand brake. Then your life is in your hand's hand, solo.

[lesChaps]

My life is frequently in my hands

[signboy]

dude, that thing is not your whole life.

[signboy]

This was a very solid fight, overall. I might just keep the whole damn thing, and arrange it onto a mixdisc.
There will be a lot of votes dished out.


Balance Lost-
Love the bass, and the overall tone. Great mix.
Sounds like something Beck would do, vocally.
This sits well as a backing track to chillin.
Good job with the vocal effects, and
making the chorus stick out a bit.

Berkeley Social Scene-
Classic Berkely production.
This is one of your guys' better tracks,
things are tight, well played, and well sung.
If anything, all it's missing is some more "air" in the mix,
it sounds a bit muted.

Birt Krinstin-
This totally sounds like one of those intros that should
kick up to a close, in-your-face vocal mix. It didn't.
That being said, if I take it as the ambient track it is,
it works well. It would sit nicely in a playlist with
Balance Lost's entry.

Chocolate Chips-
heh. I want to dislike this, but I can't.
Sounds like something Ween might do.

Cody Walker Jr.-
Nailed a live blues mix.
Nailed a live blues performance.
Nailed a live blues tune.
Damn good job, sir.
I said aw, shit.

Drew Styles and the Blue Velvet Band-
I like your organ.
Nicely done classic rock song.
I like how the distorted mix makes it sound like a reare vinyl b-side.

Gregg Boethin-
Well written melody. It does what it should.
Great mix as well.
This is making me dread having to listen to the real sign & klownhole.

Hate Noise-
Frantic-ass psychobilly. This sounds like something Dog Fashion Disco
would do, which is not meant as a bad thing.
I don't like it, but you did what you did,
and you did it in my face.
I can respect that.

Hillbilly-
I didn't expect it, but I actually wish this was longer.
Definitely one of the better things I've heard from
your side of the Mason-Dixon.

The Kenzie Chickens-
This makes me want to be in a roadhouse.
I like how the bass is as boomy & muddy as it should be for this,
without being overbearing.

Klownhole-
Sounds like an interlude between Mr. Bungle albums.

Lookouts-
lol, "I could cut down a tree & make a guitar for you"-nice.
This sounds almost like something Corb Lund would do.
The gang vocals totally make it. At 5:48 though, I'm gonna run
out of attention span before it's done.

Milton-
huh. This is better than I thought. I'd guess a couple of the notes
around 0:45 bug you almost as much as they bug me. Nicely done harmonies,
they make the song happen.

Mister Ease-
That bass is fatter than someone's momma.
Decent hook. It's just random enough lyrically to really stick.
This should be beside Balance Lost in the playlist.

Paco del Stinko-
Stinkobilly!
Love the background vocals with the "down" bit.

Psychic Soup-
I think if you're gonna use samples like that,
you should either pick ones that fit together better,
or look into creating your own.

P Wayne-
Not digging the delay on the ride. It should have been shuffled
a couple ms, or maybe had the hat cut out.
Other than that, this isn't bad.
The biggest thing that would make it sound better is to eq the guitar
out of the way of the vocals. at 3:30, the vocals sound great. Because
there's no guitar there.

The Real Sign-
This was a bit of an experiment, trying to do a song entirely in
Reason 6.5. A lot of things were nice to work with, but in the future,
we'll be rewiring into Cubase for the vocals and mixing.

Snappy & Floyd-
This sounds like Daft Punk & Pitbull got together,
and got real drunk. The verse vocals are what makes this.
The vocal fry is pulled off nicely in there.
Not a real fan of the repeated "no brakes". Needs a better hook in there.

Sockpuppet-
Deft layering of guitars. Not so deft timing of drums.
This takes me right back to the 90's. I like it.
If you could have pulled it off, a Cobain-esque octave jump would
have rocked at the end.

Tiny Ghost-
this makes me think of "Pea", by the chili peppers.
I'm not sure I want to know how much of the sound is intentional.

Wreckdom-
This was a beautiful follow up to tiny ghost.
Solid Wrectal matter.

[fluffy]

Signboy: I'm limited by my current recording setup (most of my stuff's still in storage) so I had to use canned drums, and time limitations prevented me from adjusting the timing as much as I'd have liked to. C'est la vie.

And yeah this started out as my usual "Radiohead and John Brodeur have kittens" thing but then the spirit of Seattle took over.

[signboy]

haha, well, all things considered, it turned out pretty damn good then. Nothin like recording under "conditions" eh?

[Billymojo]

I’m feelin’ too old, tired and beat up today to do full reviews so some brief commentary will suffice.
Outstanding fight. Not a glaring runt in the litter. Glad to hear Cody back in style, Gregg Boethin shows his writing and singing chops again, WreckdoM set the clicktrack to infinity BPM and Drew Styles demonstrates an organ patch for the ages. My faves, and votes, are Gregg Boethin, The Chocolate Chips, Cody Walker, Jr., Mister Ease, The Real Sign and Berkeley Social Scene.

[codywalkerjr]

Thanks for the kind reviews guys, i'm happy to be back this week. I just got back from a weeklong trip in NY . i recorded and submitted my submission a few days befor the deadline so i didnt have too much time to work on it but it came out OK. Reviews coming soon!

[hillbilly]

really like the way Boethin puts those lyrics together.

[codywalkerjr]

Quick Reviews From Cody.
Balance Lost- Guitar Melody keep the song moving along nicely. Lyrics seem well thought out. Backup vocals are nice touch. First vocalist (It sounds like 2?) seems a bit flat at times but good character--debating vote LOL
BSS- Well put together. You sing about mountains and eathquakes, We dont have those here in Florida good imagery.. The breakdown kind of reminded me of Victory Records. mix is nice vote

Perfectly 3- Mix is a bit to the left. Not very loud either. Sounds like Autotuned Ozzy. The mix sounds like Its being listyened to though a wall.

The Chocolate Chips- I like the arrangement. Bass comes and goes adding depth to the song. vocals are clear and upfront

Drew Styles- The Intro/Rhythm guitar sounds out of tune a bit. Seems like it wants to rock harder but is missing sonething. I'm hearing some Billy Corgan vocals in certain parts. I Like the distorted organ but it hits quite a few sour notes. Thats Rock N Roll though I guess

Gregg Boethem - sounds like a "real" Song. Voice sounds good, Slide guitar is a nice touch. Mix is nice Probably my favorite submission this week- vote

Hatenoise- Mix is sooo distorted but the song sounds awesome. Kind of a Mars Volta meets Surf Rock meets the Pixies. I'll gove it a vote for creativity

Hillbilly- nice bluesy feel

Kenzie Chickens- Excellent! Fun song, good story, The chorus is great. Great Vocals and instrumental . vote

Klownhole- Intro reminds me of Prodigy's 'smak my bitch up" or whatever that song is called. It doesnt seem like a song to me.

Lookouts- Fun progression- vocals sound good but a bit low. chord progressions are well done but predictable


Milton- arrangent good. Voice seems overcompressed, what happened at :45 ?/ i would have just edited that note out. The distorted guitar and acoustic are not blending and then it just drops out. lyrics well done

Mister Ease- I like this one a lot. Melody and arrangement are great. Im not crazy about the drums but thats just my opinion. I'll give this a vote.

Paco- Seems like one of the most thought out fights this week. runs are pretty awesome along with the rest of the instrumentation- vote


psycic soup- reminds me of Kraftwerk if they were still putting out music. I dont see how you utilized the song title


P wayne- seems a bit drunk and sloppy. Reminds me of Type 0 negative - slightly repetitive

real sign- Im not a big fan of electronic music but this is well done. are you from Canadia?? LOL

Snappy and Floyd- this is pretty weird but cool. Not my cup of tea, but thats personal opinion. Its retty intense song, not much resolve in there, just leaves you biting your nails. good use of lyrics

sock puppet- I like the guitar riff. Lyrics seem like they are read off of paper. need a little more oomph in the delivery. something is slightly off beat quite often


tiny ghost- fun song- Sounds like improv, which is what i do most weeks. fun stuff

WrecKdom- Woow this jumped ouyt at me after the last song- High enegy. drums/guitars are full throttle hard hitting, -good shit- vote












Also

[codywalkerjr]

My apologies to Birt- i listed your track as Perfectly 3

also to Balance Lost as I see now that your song is Featuring another vocalist- didnt notice that while "Streaming all"

[codywalkerjr]

After a secong listen i gave Chocolate chips and Balance lost a vote

[signboy]

are you from Canadia??

um, yeah. How'd you know?

[furrypedro]

After a secong listen i gave Chocolate chips and Balance lost a vote

Aw, thanks dude!

I will get around to reviewing when I can. Still struggling with my "Joey" idea at the mo.

[hillbilly]

Cody-- liked the mood, great guitar. Speaking Fl. have you ever done Clearwater.( Mons Venus) the strip. ect? x was from there, drum fishing from the Skyland bridge, (I it was,a ship knocked down the center) then a stronger bridge was built beside it. The ole bridge is a party hole from hell.

[fluffy]

In case anyone cares, I just posted a version with the timing somewhat improved.

[codywalkerjr]

Cody-- liked the mood, great guitar. Speaking Fl. have you ever done Clearwater.( Mons Venus) the strip. ect? x was from there, drum fishing from the Skyland bridge, (I it was,a ship knocked down the center) then a stronger bridge was built beside it. The ole bridge is a party hole from hell.

Clearwater is about 4 hours from here, I've never been there . I live in NE Fl. (Jax)

I'll have to go see it one day.

[codywalkerjr]

are you from Canadia??

um, yeah. How'd you know?

I think I remeber you saying something about "Driving through Toronto".

[chocolatechips]

VOTES:

Balance Lost

+ dig the synths.
+ interesting lyrics.
+ like the backing vocals.
+ good guitar riffs.
- some of the lead vocals are a bit off.

Cody Walker Jr.

+ Dig the live sound.
+ Nice guitar tone and playing.
+ Strong vocals.
- Sort of generic for the style.

Mister Ease

+ Probably my favorite production of the round. Great atmosphere.
+ Cool bass & percussion sounds.
+ Reminds me of Beck and I'm a big fan his.
- Not sold on the lo-fi section at 2 minutes. Doesn't really work.

WreckdoM

+ Pure insanity.
+ Great guitars & drums for this style.
+ Sounds like you've got a sort of updated Butthole Surfers vibe going on.
- Possibly too much going on, but at the same time that's where part of the charm comes from.

ALMOST VOTES:

Berkeley Social Scene

+ some nice '90s + '60s sounds. Weezer-esque.
- vocals a bit buried in comparison with the guitars.

Gregg Boethin

+ Pretty well recorded. Good singing.
- But I don't really like it much, it just sort of drags.

The Kenzie Chickens

+ Your songs are all well done. Well performed, well recorded.
- But they feel a bit like genre exercises.
+ Still, would be nice to hear this in a bar after a few rounds.

Milton

+ Like the vocals, nice personality.
+ Some nice lead guitar parts.
- Doesn't quite make enough of an impression to make it to a Vote.

Paco Del Stinko

+ I feel like you're basically achieving what it is you are trying to do.
- It just doesn't appeal much to me.
- Some of the guitar sounds a bit crackly... digitally overdriven?

Psychic Soup

+ Pretty creepy.
+ Reminds me a bit of Throbbing Gristle.
- Not quite enough here to hold my interest.

Snappy & Floyd

+ You do this stutter edit thing pretty damn well.
- Seems to be your only trick.
+ I suppose it's good to really perfect one style...
- You need better hooks.
+ Your lyrics are pretty amusing.

NO VOTES:

Birt Krinstin

+ What I can hear of has some catchyness to it. Not bad.
+ Ween-esque in places. They are an influence for me, so I appreciate that.
- Too lo-fi for my taste.

Drew Styles and the Blue Velvet Band

+ Organ.
- The delay doesn't work.

The HATE Noise

+ Some cool lyrics and personality.
- But just too messy, at least as far as I'm feeling at the moment.

hill billy

+ Pretty good guitar.
+ nice harmonica.

Jeff Hole

- I'd have to be pretty high to get into this, I think.

The Lookouts

+ Pretty good guitar playing.
- Way too long.

P. Wayne

- I don't like these guitar tones.
- The overall sound is just a bit too fake... sounds like a bunch of '80s style presets.
+ When the vocals finally come in, they aren't too bad (but too buried in the mix.)
- Intro is way too long.

The Real Sign

+ The main bass synth is kind of cool.
+ I like the harmonies around 1 minute in.

Sockpuppet

- Vocals are a bit weak.
+ Some nice melodic bits.

Tiny Ghost

- Doesn't sound like you're trying.

[lesChaps]

- I'd have to be pretty high to get into this, I think.

That is a common and appropriate response to pretty much everything we have ever done. We also would have accepted "really drunk" or "severely brain-damaged". We are not without sympathy or compassion for anyone attempting to listen (we often can't)

[Billymojo]

[
.

The Kenzie Chickens

+ Your songs are all well done. Well performed, well recorded.
- But they feel a bit like genre exercises.
+ Still, would be nice to hear this in a bar after a few rounds.

OUCH. GENRE EXERCISES? DANG BUT THE TRUTH HURTS. I GOTTA TAKE THAT EXTRA STEP BUT I'M STUCK. THANKS FOR THE REVIEW.

[chocolatechips]

Hey it's just one guy's opinion... everyone has different tastes. I think it's a good idea not to get too worried about any one guy's opinion, especially when he's a weirdo like me. If you get a bunch more people saying the same thing, then you might have a problem... ya know what I mean?

That said; I think everyone can improve their music in some way or another. And I think it's often the negative feedback that's most important in figuring out how to improve (which is why I try to include one negative thing with each review even if I really like the song.)