Five is right out! (I'm Gonna Explode reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Neither shall though count to two excepting that thou then proceed to three.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Post your Monty Python inspired lyrics here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12419
(And all the others, too, I suppose.)

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[jack]

The Fender Rhodes on that Future Boy track is fucking butter. Slather me up and broil me with it.

Who's that playing guitar? Nice track (it's like a Beck outtake).

[thehipcola]

some reviews:

Future Boy ft. Trip to the Archives: Nice stuff all around here. Nice mix, nice arrangement - as jack said the Rhodes is tight. great vocal arrangement too... possible vote. Predictably awesome track from Future Boy.

kennebec manifesto: rise up, people.

Lichen Throat: I dig the guitar lines weaving around each other. not into the drum programming as much, feels too understated. been awhile since I heard a LT tune - this is pretty great work from the last time I heard your stuff a few years ago.

The Mellfire Trifecta: this is great right off the top - love the vocal work. I find the ts-ts-tsssss hats pattern over the verse pattern a bit of a bummer - seems like it could just drive like a more rock beat there. Opinions and assholes right? . Great work - would love to hear the stereo field spread a bit wider to give some of the elements more room to breathe. I like the cool descending motif "I'm gonna explooo-oo-oo-de". really clever. Nice work!

Paco del Stinko: cool brooding progression right off the top has my ear. not sold on the falsetto stuff - but I dig the opening progression for sure. typically cool, if strange, PdS track.

Pigfarmer Jr: guess the treble knob was broken. also guess that helps the vox stand out. the lofi character of things warms on me after awhile. the right guitar dropping out to do some noodling in the 2nd set of verses sort jars me out of my listen groove... too bad. otherwise cool.

The Popped Hearts: cool alt build off the top, though it makes it's point about halfway through the "ever dids". short and sweet. not bad at all.



Rock Martyr: this mix is a mess, but also seems to be part of the charm - not complaining. Love the intro that quickly slaps the face with a left turn. love the vocal character. the whole overblown vibe is charming and honestly I dig it. cool work. not sure I'm into all the section transitions - but who cares what I think? cool tune.

WreckdoM: I'm sure I've missed a bunch of WreckdoM tunes but this is the first song sounding song I think I've ever heard from you guys. Ahh there it is in the chorus - classic WD. haha - awesome. There's a special place in music history *just* for WreckdoM. awesome stuff.

Hot Pink Halo - shades of Prince in the backing track. psych guitar modulation is trippy.
Johnny Cashpoint - great bass line.

The Big Nasty - noisy and honestly doesn't care. Fun to scream and layer explosions in there. Hope to fight more this year. thanks all!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Pigfarmer Jr: guess the treble knob was broken. also
guess that helps the vox stand out. the lofi character of things warms on me after awhile. the right guitar dropping out to do some noodling in the 2nd set of verses sort jars me out of my listen groove... too bad. otherwise cool.

I appreciate the review.

I used a little squire mini jaguar with the shittiest humbuckers in the history of humbuckers and it came out sounding like shit (which was kind of the point.) I recorded two passes (one left channel, one right channel) and obviously there was a screw up in the first take and then an even bigger screw up on the second take but screw it, I decided to keep it. Then one take of bass and I think two (maybe three) takes of the vocal (keeping the last one) then I mixed them together with some midi drum/samples. Think self skirmish and you've got the idea.

[thehipcola]

Nice! Sometimes "screw it" is exactly what's called for, and/or what you've got time for.

[Future Boy]

The Big Nasty
I'm not much of a hard rock guy but this is solid. I turned the volume down so the guitars are at a comfortable medium volume and find it difficult to understand the vocals at that volume, maybe they could come up a bit.

Future Boy ft. Trip to the Archives
Thanks for the compliments on the Rhodes sound. A thing I did this time around that I don't normally do is cut mids on the Rhodes where the vocal sits which seemed to mean I could have the Rhodes a bit louder than normal without it masking the vocals. Guitar is a friend of mine from Austin, this is not the last we will hear of her.

Hot Pink Halo
I like all the individual sounds in this, particularly a lot of the bass work, but it doesn't always seem to hang together. I think this is mostly due to the guitar part sometimes becoming so amorphous that it doesn't gel at all with the bass/drums, which keep a very steady rhythm.

Johnny Cashpoint
really like the bass riff in this and the organ. vocal sounds buried either because of volume or lack of highs, comes out nicely in the bridge tho. stereo effect on the organ after the bridge and the lo-fi video game sound are A+

kennebec manifesto
I'm not much of a ska guy, but y'all just sound really good and the lyrics are great. I want a little more weight during "better step out of the road / it's like i'm going to explode" but I'm not sure what's missing. thicker vocals? deeper bass? slowed down part of the song is cool but maybe loses too much energy?

Lichen Throat
dunno what's going on with the kick in the drum part, it's like it's there but isn't. melodically i think it's just a bit repetitive and chorus and verse are maybe too similar? but i do still love the timbre of your voice and i think you've mixed it well here.

The Mellfire Trifecta
i think this is a song more or less against gentrification? that's nice, if so. enjoy the overall vibe and performance, mix is very good. the vocal processing kind of sounds like the vocal was dropped in as a low bit-rate mp3 and I don't love that. the story of the song doesn't seem to resolve at all? "one step forward two steps back even after the ban still no one can stop it / we're left juggling this old pigskin everyone else seems to want us to drop it" is a really great couplet.

Paco del Stinko
mix is solid. not particularly enjoying your vocal stylings, are you going for an early bowie thing here? Iggy Pop? It just sounds forced. Would love to hear what it would sound like if you tried singing like Paul Simon or something more mellow. Or even just backed off on exaggerating your enunciation and vowel sounds so much.

Pigfarmer Jr
I chuckled at the lyrics, I'm not sure if that's what you intended. the guitars are so weirdly muffled that I really don't mind the messiness, maybe even works in your favor here.

The Popped Hearts
might have over di-hid the ever di-hids. good short and sweet song though.

Rock Martyr
vocal crosses the "too whiny" line for me in the opening, gets better during the chorus. enjoy all the jangly lo-fi, manages to hang together. i hear a bowie guitar lick in there but can't remember which song it is from, probably only hinting at it, awesome if intentional.

WreckdoM
the hard left vocal in the chorus is too hot and too distorted, imo. vocals kind of lost in the guitars during verse. do like the chorus lyrics. music otherwise seems like a perfectly cromulent hard rock song to me? i am not good at noticing nuance in this genre.

[MellyP]

The Mellfire Trifecta
"i think this is a song more or less against gentrification? that's nice, if so. enjoy the overall vibe and performance, mix is very good. the vocal processing kind of sounds like the vocal was dropped in as a low bit-rate mp3 and I don't love that. the story of the song doesn't seem to resolve at all? "one step forward two steps back even after the ban still no one can stop it / we're left juggling this old pigskin everyone else seems to want us to drop it" is a really great couplet."

You definitely got the gist of the song. Unfortunately it is autobiographical and, as you say, it has not been resolved. Sucks living next door to an ugly, doesn't-match-the-other-houses behemoth AirBnb that keeps doing loud night events despite a ban on short-term rentals. One day we might fully shut them down for breaking the rules but, bylaws being bylaws, enforcement has been tough. Thanks for your review!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Pigfarmer Jr
I chuckled at the lyrics, I'm not sure if that's what you intended.

I was trying to poke fun at the middle age white guy (raises hand) who takes the little things entirely too seriously (hopefully I can lower it now.)

[lichenthroat]

The Big Nasty—Not quite my thing, but it seems competent and comes with the intensity this genre demands.

Future Boy—The Rhodes seems popular, and it does have a nice tone. All the performances are good, and your voice sounds smooth and well-modulated. However, I didn’t have a lot of interest in the composition. Admittedly, this is not among my preferred genres, so my taste in this case is suspect. Nice double-tracking on the bridge.

Hot Pink Halo—Usually I like your stuff better and better on successive listens, but this one never coalesced for me. I’m not sure I can articulate why. I never quite felt like I got into the melody. Your voice sounds good, though, especially when you sing “radio” in the chorus.

Johnny Cashpoint—Nice intro. The bassline is good, and I like your organ, but I would like to hear more variability within the song. The bridge is very welcome when it comes, and the 8-bit explosions are cool.

kennebec manifesto—What is this: Reggae? Ska? Half-and-half? Whatever it is, it sounds good. Nice and smooth but still with a sharp edge. Good production. Nothing to complain about.

Lichen Throat—This has gone back and forth between me liking and hating it, and it still hasn’t really settled one way or the other. I guess I’m pretty happy with the verses, but that bridge is awful. I should have just cut it out. Also, I doubt many people are in the market for a WWII-themed dance song.

The Mellfire Trifecta—I think this is one of your best songs. It sounds very cohesive and well-realized. My condolences on your experiences with this, but the lyrics paint a clear picture.

Paco del Stinko—Nice drums; the quiet ticks fit in well. It seems like you’re trying for a quiet intensity with the vocal, but it doesn’t feel tense enough to me. I do like those weird yells just before the end, though.

Pigfarmer Jr—This treads the uncomfortable ground between satire and earnestness; I think it would be better to step clearly to one side or the other. It does, however, stay on message, which is important for this type of song.

The Popped Hearts—Hey, it’s 1996 again. I very much like how this sounds, but it’s too short, so it doesn’t feel like a fully realized song. Nice guitar work. Please stay and submit more songs.

Rock Martyr—I don’t know what to make of this. I really like the basic instrumental and vocal melodies of the primary chorus. But the chorus feels a letdown—but not on every chorus. Very Guided by Voices, which is mostly a good thing. One and a half thumbs up.

WreckdoM—I like the more conventional approach here. It’s a bit hardcore for me, but it nevertheless feels legit. I’m not a fan of the distortion on the chorus vocals. One of your better songs, I think.

[jeff robertson]

This is my first time even listening to a fight in over a year, and haven't regularly listened in about 8 years. I listened on a very cheap pair of headphones and I was surprised at how good everyone sounds. Even the songs I don't like are more listenable than I remember. What happened to the songs that are just acapella vocals sung into a computer mic in the bathroom? Where are the live recorded acoustic guitar songs that sound like someone had a secret tape recorder hidden in their jacket pocket? Every song in this fight has a full complement of instruments for whatever genre it's supposed to be. Every song sounds like it was at least recorded with a microphone that cost more than $50. No song sounds like it uses any instrument that the songfighter received as Christmas present as a child, and still uses because it's the still the only one of that instrument they have. Are all of ya'lls mixes done for you by ChatGPT now?

Actual reviews to come, maybe.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Quick comments for an interesting fight. Shorter stuff here that work quite well. Votes for top three.

The Big Nasty - Curly and ferocious. Almost wanted a double time in the bridge, but this crushes plenty. Sounds great and does what it needs to do then leaves you with a welcome bloody nose.

Future Boy ft. Trip to the Archives - Bits of fireplace, lounge, familiar essence but fresh. Sounds great and is well balanced all around. Maybe hints at a drag in the last third, but makes you feel good.

Hot Pink Halo - Disco-y punk start. I like where this wants to go, sometimes getting there, sometimes not. The mix gives it a transmitted sound, signal haze. Focus the music, let the vocals go kookier. Good colors.

Johnny Cashpoint - Great groove, sexy, mysterious and pulsing. Excellent layers and arrangement. Voices sit right in with the tasty keys. Bridge is great, nice textures. Top tier.

kennebec manifesto - Swaying party vibe and groove. I cannot help seeing a drink in one hand guy fist pumping at the dynamic accents. You could lead anything instrument over this and it would sound great, cliched or not, but doesn't need to. Feels longer than it is, not a problem. Nice.

Lichen Throat - Super new wave tune. The arrangement is hooky and the melodies good if inconsistent. I like the story but might like it more if less literal. Makes me want to plug in guitars or bass and crank along, but the electro tones are nice.

TheMellfire Trifecta - Great. More soaring than exploding. This snaps along nicely, Who style drums would not be out of place here. Nice pieces of chewy melody, a strip of chewed leather. That start is great, hints of so much that could happen. This almost begs you to listen to it again after it ends. Excellent!

Paco del Stinko - Late night lyrics and vocalizing the night before the deadline led to this mesterpiece. Almost sent to the scrap heap.

Pigfarmer Jr - Some good changes and ideas in this sloppy bit of punkitude. A little too paint by numbers I think, if well intentioned. Not quite hitting the mark. Been there many a time myself, Boyo. Hoo. New motor and a fresh coat of paint.

The Popped Hearts - Very fun emo pop punk or whatever it's called. Hooky and full of the right amount of stuff to get'ya pumped. Sounds very good as well. Nicely done and good performances.

Rock Martyr - Neil Young jamming with the Replacements. The sludge and haze work well though a bit more drum snap wouldn't be wrong. Super breakdowns and bit kooky, too. Electric vibe, little scary. Nice!

WreckdoM - Rocking hard and fuzzy with no shortage of challenger goofage. Could be a smidge tighter and not lose its thing. It rocks, it's a bit goofy, it's a bunch fun.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I'm coming back to do a lo-fi fuzz guitar song.

Nice!

[Lunkhead]

The Mellfire Trifecta win!

[Paco Del Stinko]

Congrats to the M-Fire!. Excellent song.

And thanks to the one person who voted for my misfire of a song. Been a long-time since I've only gotten one vote. Message received loud and cleaer!

[MellyP]

Thanks Paco and for anyone who voted and reviewed. Much appreciated!