Get the duct tape (Broken Heart Syndrome reviews)

[sleepysilverdoor]

Robyn MacKenzie - This chord progression and general vibe kind of reminds me of your last song quite a bit. The same VI-VII-I chord progression, a few similar melodic flourishes. If I had to change a few things I’d have overdubbed the “ahhhhs” and held them out a bit (the IV-V-III aahs), they sound good. And maybe belted out some of the more intense lines, cause this is just screaming for some emotion and right now it feels like you’re kind of holding back. Which isn’t a bad thing, cause I still like what you’re doing quite a bit. Like the “oh-whoa”s in the chorus, they need oomph! Maybe the guitar sounds too compressed too. Great lyrics though, I too like the one about sinners with broken hearts.

Balls To Monte - Something about your vocal delivery is kind of Robert Plant-ish, only the energy level is way lower and you’re not unleashing some WHOA MOMMA. I don’t know if you’re into Dead Meadow at all, but the general vibe and rhythm of this, especially the bass line and strumming pattern reminds me a lot of their latter stuff (like everything after 2010 or so when they got less about endless tripped out guitar solos and started writing more conventional tunes). Anyway, I do dig that cause I used to vibe to songs like this constantly. Something about the vocal recording sounds a little too dry to me for whatever reason. If had to change this I’d have given it a ROCKIN guitar solo halfway through. Without that to break up the song a bit more, it’s just too long and lacks the energy to keep me engaged. Yeah, seriously, you need some sweet fuzz box wah pedal action lava lamp shit to take off halfway through and blow my mind.

Jake DeLorey - Okay, now we’re upping the energy a bit, this is giving me some kind of new wavey vibes, and I like the new wavey vibes. But maybe that’s the wrong comparison, it’s something about the rhythm track and those sustained Is and IVs on the downbeats every four measures. I love that kind of electronic squelchy screechy synth going on, it’s getting me kind of pumped. Though I feel like it doesn’t quite know what to do with itself. And after that first chorus when it drops back to the instrumental break it needs something added to boost up the energy for a bit before everything drops out and the vocals sort of come to the forefront during the quiet part, feels like a void there. Basically this is a serious of really cool elements but the pacing of it just feels slightly off. Seems like the sort of song that could be workshopped into a real banger through repeated live performances. Vocal overdubs are gnarly. That melodic guitar line toward the end should have been introduced a bit earlier.

Tomdb feat rox + wub - I’ve have chosen a less clicky hi-hat sound. Or at least turned it down. Not that I don’t like 808s, but it’s not really fitting the mellow guitar vibe all that well. Though I do like when start doing the trills with it. Obvious trap influence here. When it’s just metronome though, it’s kind of dull. Maybe put a high pass filter on it so it sits in the mix better. I dig those synths that fade in halfway through. That 7th bass note at 2:17 doesn’t fit. Something about some of those hh trills reminds me of crickets. The synth solo is neat and the chord progression there is kind of proggy. Shew, like I want to like this song more -- and I like drum machines, obviously, my last song is filled with cheap retro sounding drum hits -- but the percussion in this song is just so overbearing and distracting it takes away from the rest of the song.

Dead Spectres - See, I just spent most of the last song ripping into tomdb for over-relying on the retro drum machine, but this is just as heavily reliant (are those 909 sounds?) and it doesn’t bother me. It’s also quieter and doesn’t have that clicky hi-hat mixed quite as high in the mix. It kind of loses a bit of momentum at 1:25, that bit goes on too long and the “chorus” or whatever before it is kind of dull. The use of “ensnare” was pretty lyrically clever. I’ve heard so many people complain about Firefly getting cancelled, but I never watched it. It must have been a darn good show, eh? The kick frequencies and the synth line are overlapping too much in the chorus. And that lingering synth line doesn’t quite work...and where the frequencies are clashing, it kind of drowns out the vocals in a way that doesn’t work for me, unfortunately. Your flow is good. The transition with that lone synth needs work. That third stanza with all of the autotune sounds dope and I love it. Funny how we both wound up throwing in the line about surprise lesbianism in the context of watching TV in our songs this week. Only I was watching Gray’s Anatomy.

Evermind - Your finger picking you’ve got going on here sounds pretty good, it’s giving me some of that folk-inspired mid 2000s stuff vibes. Did you listen to a lot of Bright Eyes back then? I only got into I’m Wide Awake… but that was a darn good album. I kind of want to hear a little bit more going on in the music to engage me by the time that the second chorus comes around, like maybe like some other higher melody/lyrics overdubbed on top of the jump in/jump out bit to flesh it out a lot more. Something a bit faster, y’know? Or like synth or some strings (well aware that the former is far easier)? It just feels under-developed. That said, the lyrics are pretty poignant and I enjoy them. The feeling of “protagonist sabotaging the relationship” in the second verse doesn’t quite seem clear enough, if it weren’t for your explanation I might not have quite figured that out. Maybe if you rewrote it I’d go with something a bit more on-the-nose there. Pleasant tune.

Gaping Maw - Funkyyyyyyyy. The tempo changes are fun, and exactly what I’ve come to expect out of a Gaping Maw tune. Seems like most of them are like 3 or 4 shorter, closely related ditties kind of chained together. You clearly have fun with song structure and it makes your songs fun to listen to. Guitar work is memorable and engaging. Your laid back vibe and vocal delivery is as on-point as it usually. The “you’ve got to move!” bit is really great and grabs me. Production is impeccable. If there’s a problem with this song is that it goes and goes with all of these cool bits, but never really presents me with something that feels like a central concept. Like I need a hook. It’s all groove, but I have almost nothing to grab onto...like other than thinking “that was groovy!” I don’t really remember what I just listened to.

Night Sky - Well I’m excited about all of the funky auto-wah you put all over the keyboard on this number. It’s fun to listen to. Now there’s so much auto-wah I’m not even sure what to do with it. I wish you’d stuck in on the vocals and the drums too. And the saxophone while you were at it! Now, do I necessarily think this is the most amazing song ever? Eh. The chorus kind of loses momentum, and there’s not really a whole lot of build up to the “my sweet Simone” bit. Which would have made it quite a bit better. Vocals could come up a bit higher in the mix, cause they’re kind of drowned out by everything. Song is too long. Sax solo is kick-ass: it’s obvious where your primary instrumental background is.

Rackwagon - Instrumental here is super fresh and well recorded. I’m trying to figure out exactly what the main influences for this. I can’t quite place it exactly, but I’m sure it’s something I wouldn’t have guessed anyway. Spiritualized maybe? The guitar on this sounds great and I love it. The snark in the first line and the call back to it in the second verse is well executed and I’m a big fan. This is Gizo and Toshiro, right? I’d have mixed the lead vocal just a smidge higher in the mix, but not by much. Drums are a bit trebly. And something about it goes on a little longer than I’d have preferred, despite really digging the sonic space you created here.

Steven Lamphear - Yeah, I saw that comment about the kick drum cutting through nicely and well, I can’t exactly disagree, I also agree that it seems to lack a bit of kick. Guitar could be a bit higher in the mix and maybe a bit drier, because while the drums are so crisp, the guitar seems a bit muffled by comparison. The vocals are ALMOST there, but could maybe use a little bit more oomph. Which you get to SOMETIMES, but not always (EVERY BIT OF WILLPOWERRRRR gets there). Guitar solo is sweet, any time I get to hear some smooth jazz-style picking in a songfight tune it’s always nice. Especially given how marvelously pentatonic focused a lot of the guitarists here are. This picks up tremendously toward the end. Crash cymbal is too loud. The fast drums are fun and keep the energy up, but sometimes feel a little bit *TOO* busy? Like the fills could have been simplified to great effect. Anyway, a solid entry.

Sweeney Toad - I’m a big fan of that kind of warbly underwater synth juxtaposed against those crunchy bit crushed drums. Is that a mellotron synth that you’re using? The synth line that comes in the chorus is a little bit of an abrupt transition but I barely care cause it’s so entertaining. The lyrics are pretty entertaining. The other day I ordered a Domino’s Pizza and it came after nearly 2 hours at room temperature. They’d changed their recipe or something since I last ordered from there a long time ago and it was a sorely disappointing experience. Now I want pizza. I already ate tacos so that would probably give me heartburn.

Lichen Throat - You’ve got into this MIDI-fied New Wave vibe lately and I’m loving it. You’re also getting better at getting melodies worked out, you’re getting better at creating songs that flow and mix well and have accessible structure for the most part. If I had to give an award for “most improved” on SongFight over the past year I’d give it to you because this style really works for you. As for what this song is exactly about, I really couldn’t figure it out. Very poetic though. I’ve been reading a lot of Grimm’s Fairy Tales lately and this reminds me of a lot of the common tropes that seem to appear in some of those folk tales. It’s entirely possible that I’m way off-base there. Please keep pursuing this style, it’s great.

Grumpy Mike - The rhythm here reminds me heavily of SAIL. Or any of a handful of dubstep influenced, half-time indie rock anthems that were pretty popular around the start of the 2010s that I never really dug all that much. It’s pretty well executed, and the general triplet based background of it. The chorus is catchy, and I like how you gradually introduced the choral synths throughout the track. It adds a nice pep that I like. The piano is nice touch, and I like how it sounds all degraded. I know it’s a VST. That ascending line at the end brings to mind the end of Epic by Faith No More.

Phlebia - I saw the prompt on my phone while eating dinner during a Grey’s Anatomy episode I was watching with my wife. My son’s keyboard was in the other room. My bass was by the recliner. My notepad was on the table in the dining room. Words flew from my pen. I hooked up the keyboard to my Boss Dimension C pedal, and into my audio interface. I recorded the 4 note bassline immediately afterward. And yes, Lichen Throat. You nailed it. I was going for an Andrew Eldritch type delivery. Expect more tunes about Grey’s.


Brown Word and the Big Whine - Well, this song is very bitter, and has a couple lines in here that I find pretty creative. The one about choking off the roots stuck out to. Unfortunately, while it’s a whole lot of valid points, for the most part it seems to be sort of a “by the numbers” protest song. Simple chord progression + blunt lyrics, check, rich people don’t care, check, oil, check, crummy history, it’s still ongoing, check, poor people held down by the system, check. It’s not that these points are WRONG, it’s just that I feel like I’ve heard this exact song written several times before because there’s no real unique take going on here. Or maybe protest songs are just not my thing -- I tend to prefer more abstract topics other than being reminded of all of the nasty things I’m usually trying not to focus on for the sake of my own sanity.

Inflatable Vegetables - I found this song charming and entertaining...but for real, I couldn’t listen to this song without thinking about my cousin. Technically she’s my first cousin once removed, but who cares. She’s a dental hygienist named Katie. I haven’t really payed much attention to her teeth, but I’m pretty sure they’re in pretty good condition underneath her mask. Anyway, the crash cymbal in this is a bit much during the chorus. Dropping “cardiomyopathy” into your rhyme scheme was a nice job.

Paco del Stinko - Hey, this was the closest you’ve come to winning in awhile! And I can see why. The “doot doots” were great, some of the lyricism were great, the bit about the firebreather sticks out quite a bit...and really I just generally like your sedate songs a bit more than your more manic energetic ones. Performance on this was pretty good. Nothing about it really sticks in my head, I would have dug more of a hook, but such is life!

Reve & Ujn - The NOISE. This is so extremely grating and has this like cyberpunk vibe going on. If that’s a vibe. Is that snare drum literally just a blast of white noise? It sure sounds like it. I love it. Maybe a little bit more bass would bring it together. Did you run your kick drum through chorus? It sounds kind of warbly. I like how there’s that single descending synth note as a “solo”. This reminds me of some collaborations I did with my friend Loren as “The Kraziez” back in the day (one of those made it into the “Anomaly” fight). I like it a lot!

Shade & Honey - Okay, a mellow number. Some of the lines feel like you’re holding back a bit. Like if you’re gonna have “bitch” be one of the most prominent words in your tune, you need to hit that note with some oomph. Like the way you usually hit it in this is just slightly off, and you just don’t feel like you’ve got a lot of conviction with it. Maybe just a more present vocal in the mix in general would benefit a song like this. Maybe a bit more convection? I really dig the synth solo. The guitar arpeggio and synths kind of give me black moth super rainbow vibes (namely “Neon Syrup”. Only this is way less synthy and acid drenched and there’s no vocoder. Pretty good tune, not my favorite, but good. I like the...steel drum synth? Is that what’s in the chorus?

WreckdoM - Anytime that I hear something regarding egg rolls mentioned in a song, my brain goes straight to Ween’s “Pork Roll Egg and Cheese”. This tune is delightfully muddy and fun and weird in a satisfying sort of way. It’s very brown. I like the synth. Or theremin. It’s wobbly, whatever it is. This led to me going back and listening to old WreckdoM songs from a long time ago. I went and listened to “That’s What She Said” again after this because it made me want to get a porkchop.

[lichenthroat]

Lichen Throat - You’ve got into this MIDI-fied New Wave vibe lately and I’m loving it. You’re also getting better at getting melodies worked out, you’re getting better at creating songs that flow and mix well and have accessible structure for the most part. If I had to give an award for “most improved” on SongFight over the past year I’d give it to you because this style really works for you. As for what this song is exactly about, I really couldn’t figure it out. Very poetic though. I’ve been reading a lot of Grimm’s Fairy Tales lately and this reminds me of a lot of the common tropes that seem to appear in some of those folk tales. It’s entirely possible that I’m way off-base there. Please keep pursuing this style, it’s great.

Thank you very much for the kind words. The song is about the character Éowyn in The Lord of the Rings. I wanted to have a lot of references to the source material without having any definitive links to it (such as proper names, etc.); I'm not sure whether that was a good idea or was just unnecessarily obscure.

[sleepysilverdoor]

Lichen Throat - You’ve got into this MIDI-fied New Wave vibe lately and I’m loving it. You’re also getting better at getting melodies worked out, you’re getting better at creating songs that flow and mix well and have accessible structure for the most part. If I had to give an award for “most improved” on SongFight over the past year I’d give it to you because this style really works for you. As for what this song is exactly about, I really couldn’t figure it out. Very poetic though. I’ve been reading a lot of Grimm’s Fairy Tales lately and this reminds me of a lot of the common tropes that seem to appear in some of those folk tales. It’s entirely possible that I’m way off-base there. Please keep pursuing this style, it’s great.

Thank you very much for the kind words. The song is about the character Éowyn in The Lord of the Rings. I wanted to have a lot of references to the source material without having any definitive links to it (such as proper names, etc.); I'm not sure whether that was a good idea or was just unnecessarily obscure.

It's a lot more artful than my past few entries, 2/3 of which have been nothing but synopses of early Grey's Anatomy episodes namedropping characters left and right...