How do you make hushpuppies? (Friday Fish Fry reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

I suddenly have a craving.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Please place your lyric here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12376

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[tonetripper]

Wreckdom

[sleepysilverdoor]

FAVORITES:
MAGNETIC LETTERS AND WRECKDOM AND BROWN

Berkeley Social Scene: I would have mixed the vocals a little bit higher in the chorus and turned the guitars down just a smidge. There’s something about the way the vocals are mixed that just doesn’t sit right with me, but I can’t place exactly what. There’s just something kind of muddy about them? Maybe I’d EQ out some of the low end and put some light compression on them. That chiming guitar line on the other hand, I would love some more of that! I would also love a fish fry every friday night.

Brown Word and the Big Whine: Knowing that this is just the audio from the living room recording makes it a lot more charming. I know I’ve said it before, but despite my usual tastes, I find myself usually liking your more stripped down songs more than your more experimental/production heavy ones. I had to look up what “Torsk” was cause I really had no idea, apparently I’m not scandinavian enough to know! Ditto for poor man’s lobster. Though I find it amusing that there’s a dish called that cause a long time ago lobster *was* poor man’s food. Oh well. I find this very charming.

Cavedwellers: Good melody. Good progression. I can’t really complain much about it. Personally I find the chord progression a bit too cookie cutter, but then again complaining about too much I IV V in songfight is a fools errand because – well, it works, and me complaining about it is probably a bit pretentious. Ending seems a bit sloppy and abrupt, like what happened with the drum recording there? Guitar solo is well executed, and I get why this did so well in the live stream.

Hot Pink Halo: I complained that the Berkeley Social Scene entry had kind of muffled vocals and yours suffers from the same issue - I would turn up your vocals just a bit and turn the guitars down a little bit. The hard panning on them also seems a bit extreme. I love the little electronic beep doops. And also I just found myself wishing for a bit more harmonic complexity and moving away from I IV V chord progressions in the Cavedwellers song and this song is just as heavily I IV V so it triggers my inner snob. I think it’s probably cause that’s the first chord progression I ever learned about and so I always consciously avoid it but it works so whatever. Just as I learned about torsk from BW+BW’s song, I learned about kedgeree from yours. So much regional variation in fish dishes!

Johnny Cashpoint: Okay this is wonky and lo fi and very wonky and very lo fi. Did you bit crush the entire mix? It sounds like this was encoded at a low enough bit rate to be in the backgrounds of a newgrounds video I washed 20 years ago. This goes on a little bit longer than I feel like it should given the nature and simplicity of the song. And maybe it’s because nearly all of the other ones this week are very short. That said - I must disagree with your insinuation that spending your last days playing scrabble would be a boring way to go, as I positively love scrabble and wish that more people would play it with me. I used to have this friend Tim who I’d play with all the time, and he would always kick my ass and nearly triple my score. Then he moved away. Sigh.

That upwards modulation in the instrum ... ]Night Sky[/b]: You said you borrowed a traditional melody here but I can’t for the life of be tell you what it was! It reminds me of something that I’ve heard in maybe a Doobie Brothers song or something? Maybe it just has a “traditional sound to it”. I personally would have liked to hear a bit more done with the unison in the guitar and the whistling, or just turning down the guitar a notch relative to the whistling. This is charming and I enjoy it a lot.

Phlub: My coworker told me about how his mom worked with the poisoner/serial killer Michael Swango briefly in the 1970s and it got me wanting to write a song about a guy who poisons a bunch of people at a fish fry and disappears. So yeah that’s basically what this is about. If I had to do something differently, I’d have turned the bass down slightly, the guitar up a bit, and not hit that Db major chord at the end of the guitar solo and left it minor. And maybe done something different with the bass during the solo, cause that chromatic modulation sounded wrong right before coming into the third verse. And maybe screamed a bit more at the end, drawing out my demise a bit.

Pigfarmer Jr: Well this is quite a departure from the aesthetic in your life performance. Much more distortion! Much more enunciation too! Anyway, this was short and sweet and made me giggle then and it remains short and sweet and still makes me giggle so three cheers for writing songs for songfight.

Rocktronik: There’s a specific song – https://vrsex.bandcamp.com/track/sacred-limousine-2 – that has a remarkably similar chord progression and rhythm running through the first verse that I can’t shake the resemblance to. Maybe because I’ve specifically ripped it off before (The Password is ____, minus the vocal cadence). Your track is way more melodic and maybe I’m just trippin in hearing a resemblance. All that aside, I enjoyed this – would have picked a slightly different set of drum sounds, but all in all pretty enjoyable.

WreckdoM: I told Mel you better enter and I’m happy to see this here. Double kick! Echo-ey death growls! Some grungy/sludgy riffing that takes over the song halfway through. And I love the way the bass is mixed here. This is exactly what I wanted to hear from you, so A+! And pinch harmonics galore. Good job, thank you for your service.

[crumpart]

And also I just found myself wishing for a bit more harmonic complexity and moving away from I IV V chord progressions in the Cavedwellers song and this song is just as heavily I IV V so it triggers my inner snob.

But but but… I modulated away from 145 to a different 145.

Hoping to have another listen through these tomorrow at work. Had planned to today but migraine…

[sleepysilverdoor]

And also I just found myself wishing for a bit more harmonic complexity and moving away from I IV V chord progressions in the Cavedwellers song and this song is just as heavily I IV V so it triggers my inner snob.

But but but… I modulated away from 145 to a different 145.

Hoping to have another listen through these tomorrow at work. Had planned to today but migraine…

Migraines are the worst! Hope you get to feeling better.

[mholland]

Night Sky: You said you borrowed a traditional melody here but I can’t for the life of be tell you what it was! It reminds me of something that I’ve heard in maybe a Doobie Brothers song or something? Maybe it just has a “traditional sound to it”. I personally would have liked to hear a bit more done with the unison in the guitar and the whistling, or just turning down the guitar a notch relative to the whistling. This is charming and I enjoy it a lot.

I think it’s the inescapable similarity of the main riff to square dance calls (swing your partner to and fro, promenade and do-si-do) and drill sergeant call and response (I don’t know but I’ve been told…) that made me think I must be borrowing something. I mean it’s at most a very minor variation on those musical tropes. The stinking/drinking lines may be original. Basically it’s what I was able to write in my head driving to Monterey and play on the ukulele that I brought with me. Glad you enjoyed it, I had fun writing the silly lyrics.

[glennny]

Personally I find the chord progression a bit too cookie cutter, but then again complaining about too much I IV V in songfight.....

Ummm well it's not.

It is: 1, 6, 5 then 4,5, 1 then 3,4,3,4,3,4,5

Is that too 1,4,5?

[sleepysilverdoor]

Hmm. You are right, on another listen. I have a habit of making notes on songs as I'm listening to them and the notes often prove themselves to be incorrect as the song goes on, but since I'm on a roll I rarely go back and edit my review notes.

So yes, your song is more harmonically complex than I gave it credit for.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

...on another listen. I have a habit of making notes on songs as I'm listening to them...

Just change it to something like, "It's too 1,3,4,3,4,3,4,5,6 for my taste."

[sleepysilverdoor]

(crickets)

[crumpart]

Started writing my reviews and realised my podcast app is doing some weird shit with labelling, so... to the website to listen so that I don't write a bunch of uber-confusing reviews!

Berkeley Social Scene:
Really enjoying the guitar tones here. I think you could maybe process the vocals a bit differently so that the rest of the mix complements them a bit better; right now they feel a bit too separate. I know this was live though, which adds complications. Lyrically I'm not picking up anything in particular except "Fish Fry Friday every Friday of our lives" and I prefer lyrics to be a bit more engaging.

Brown Word and the Big Whine:
The "liveness" of this is delightful, especially the little "didja get it?!" at the end. Lyrically it's really charming and the rhythm/delivery on "kick off the weekend" is tops.

Cavedwellers:
Loved this during the live fight; if I was awake I'd have voted for it there! All of those guitar tones and lines are sweet af. Speaking of sweet af, it's got a touch of the Matthew Sweet vibe about it, or maybe a bit of Tobin Sprout GBV, and those two things are a direct line to my heart, so if you ever want to hypnotise me into voting for you, that's definitely one way to do it. Love the vocal harmonies.

Hot Pink Halo:
It me. "Fish Fry" isn't a phrase I'd ever actually use, so I didn't. Was going for a nostalgic Catholic childhood song about Friday night fish'n'chips, with an immigrant subtext.

Johnny Cashpoint:
Love the synths. The introduction/back vocals kind of sound like they've been recorded in a shoebox; I wish they'd been treated differently so that they sit better with the synths. The lead vocal is a little behind on the timing to my ear, and I would've just nudged them across a little so that they hit better.

The Magnetic Letters:
Cool bassline. I always enjoy your songs and this is no different. Absolutely charming, and you've managed to pack a lot in to a short song, which is impressive. I too grew up Catholic...

Night Sky:
Fun guitar and I always love some handclaps. The melody is very reminiscent of schoolyard chants, which is more an observation than a criticism. I think it's quite suitable for the song. Jealous of your whistling skills as usual.

Phlub:
I know you just told me to turn my vocals up, but turn your vocals up! Just a bit! They're clear enough eq wise, but too quiet! I think you've done a good job on the mix of everything else. I know this isn't a talking blues, but it kind of has a talking blues vibe about it in the delivery, which I enjoy. It's long, but I think that's appropriate here because it's also A Journey. I don't know who Michael Swango is and I don't think I'll look him up.

Pigfarmer Jr:
Shortest song of the lot? Well done! This makes me smile every time I hear it. Your vocals are sounding great here. The fakeout lyric lines at the end are spot on. Love it; great job.

Rocktronik:
I do love tacos. I'd like to hear a bit more ear candy or something with this; something to bring a bit more variation between the verses and choruses. As it is, everything is a a bit monotonous. I think you could keep everything you have, but just add some more variation with other parts.

WreckdoM:
Love the drum opening; has a great energy to it. The rest of the song is not my cup of tea style wise, but I imagine that kind of metal singing is quite difficult, so bravo. I can't really make out any of the lyrics apart from "Friday Fish Fry", which is a bit of a shame but also kinda comes with the genre territory, but it might be something to consider in the mix.

[Lunkhead]

Brown Word and the Big Whine win!

[WreckdoMelle]

Whoa, huzzah! My mom and Buster are very happy Many thanks!

[crumpart]

Congrats BW!