Atonal Coil Bros: The breakdown at around 1.55 sounds okay, kinda nice in a jangly 80's way, the rest of this song is pretty bad, nothing seems to flow nicely and the guitar is an abomination.
Billy's Little Trip: funky guitar sound. The vocals are okay, you sound like a young King Arthur. I like technical drums and these are pretty basic but they sound pretty good and the fills are cool. all round solid 1993-sounding tune, nice one.
Booty Chesterfield Trio: who is this again? this is sleazy good. I fuckin love cowbell, and then when you start to sound like Pavement I start really getting in to it. The second section reminds me a lot of the ending to 'Fight this Generation', and its discordant drive is most pleasing, like a turbo sonofsupercar. Good outro
Caravan Ray: Just when you thought Caravan Ray couldn't get any gayer, here we have a perfect slice of twee tractor pop. This sounds like if you had collaborated with Damien Verrett, but also again it reminds me of the chirpier Pavement songs. possible keeper, really nice dude. Actually, no, I just thought, have you listened to the new Gruff Rhys album
Candylion at all? That's what this is like, and I fucking love SFA (for whom Mr Rhys sings) so kudos-a-rama!
Cranial Biffida: I must admit that I think this is a really impressive piece of recording. I don't want to like the gothic overtones but here I find the crushing combination of a frankly disturbingly heavy band with all manner of horrific war and industrial samples, as well as the alien vocoder saying what I can only imagine to be something fucking dark, creates some incredibly vivid imagery. I think this is quite a coup as I've never been able to fully appreciate your songs before but this one is very compelling. On occasion the synthesizer tends to add a slight 80's horror vibe but the rest of the arrangement and structure are able to pull it back to a less comical direction. good work. that is intense.
Damien Verrett: Your song is a really nice antidote to the previous one, brings me back to reality. I am so pleased with how much better you are at recording and producing, and writing for that matter, since you started songfighting. I like lots of your songs but this has yet more fidelity and depth than I've heard from you so far. I'm hearing the influence of Islands and Sufjan Stevens in there; on occasion I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes I feel all the ideas fall over themselves to be heard, a couple of bars of one section the on to the next and it would have been nice to just settle into the groove for a moment. I'm sure I'll get over that after a few more listens, and I love the recorder. A splendid song.
The Disciples of Beer: I remember when we were 17 we'd dust off the bongos, plug into our 4-track and smoke a bowl, and it's almost like somebody stole the tapes and posted them on songfight. Only this sounds less like Zero7. Because of this I'm gonna assume that you made a night of this song and had a laugh and a funky jam, which is cool, I envy you cos I tend to do all my recording alone these days. However, there is a good reason those tapes we made never left my room.
Eidolon: For what this is the playing is all good and recording is loud and clear, so the song shines through well. It all seems pretty well written, can't find any holes in it, but at the same times I'm not feeling it. I guess it doesn't take the melody twists I hope it will, not like say Thanks For The Frisbee.
ephedream: Woah there, I didn't have both hands ready to rock and surely there is too much rock for one hand in this track. It's the embodiment of a throbbing sweaty cock, and a leering tongue breathing down my neck. I feel violated just listening to it. Less sexual healing, more like surprise sex!
Flvxxvm Florvm: I've heard some big hitters in this fight so far, and I can't say that this makes the grade. It has a bit of quality to be sure, you've got what it takes to melt more than enough faces in this room, and that bass is a bit of a monster. The song itself doesn't hold up too bad too, but if I heard anyone singing like that in this country I'd think they were taking the piss plus the guitar, which does sound ripping and dirty in parts, is horrible and bitty a lot of the time.
Jim Tyrrell: ...and now, it's time for the silky smooth tones of JT himself on 95.3MW so just sit back, relax and let this one guide you home.....................................oww, sax solo.....I'll let it slide
. Afternoon delight.
Jolly Roger: See now, this here is an interesting specimen, it's like a zeitgeist of early 90's fuzzcore, and there's even some doom/sludge/grind thrown in for fun. I'm on the fence about the recording, it's a bit lo-fi, mainly with the vocals, but on the other hand that's just perfect and the main thing is that I like the verses and the choruses. The guitar parts do their job without being overly inspiring but it all bounces along in an exuberant grimey way, much like Ash back when they were good.
Klownhole: This style is a really good foil for post-rock/soundtrack bands. It's overblown and pompous but in a total contrast to the overbearing earnestness of post-rock you make a complete mockery of rock. In The NUTS!!! yay.
Masterhyde: If I heard this arrangement in any other style or song in this fight I'd be disappointed at the production but it works here. The main reason being that the vocals are solid as a rock, the flow's good, the tone sits nicely in the mix and it's not abrasive or weak at any point. They are pretty much able to carry the track on their own which definitely helps to make a song stick out.
MC Eric B: Hearing this makes me wish I'd not listened to the song in alphabetical order as the unfortunate placing of you right after Masterhyde really softens the impact of the track. Whatever I said about that track mainly applies here, except of course that the vocals sound very different. I think Masterhyde pips you there as he sounds less nerdy and gave a stronger delivery.
Melvin: I know what I want my headstone to say, erm, but I can't remember right now. Changin the subject, you know all those wannabe-emo bands like Fallout Boy and Panic at the Disco? well the reason they're rubbish is cos A) they sing like Elton John and B) their amps only go up to 3. You have the advantage of having an amp that goes up to 11, I'm not sure it goes all the way up this time but as those monkeys on your back Weezer always used to say "if it's too loud, turn it down", but not too far down and you've not got the balance wrong yet. The backing vocals are great where you do that desperate monologue, they make the track give it the flavour that makes this different from your other songs where the main melody and structure make it a cracking recording like your other songs. Your life is an epic novel. (ps. I've listened to your Big Success a lot, that chorus is great as is the whole song, with the original verse vocals btw, I can't wait till season comes back around so you can do another summer anthem.)
Paco Del Stinko: Holy McGodickle! I've never heard Paco jangle like this before, and being the predictable hack that I am I love it. This is the tune I've been waiting for from you, the melodic twists I mentioned in Eidolon's review are all present here where I found them a bit lacking in previous efforts. This is like a melange of all my favourite american indie bands; The clear jangle of American football, wobbly space guitar of The Flaming Lips, a rousing GBV chorus and lo-fi Pavement-y ramblings inbetween. Sweet as a nut. Kept, and maybe voted for? lets listen on...
Ross Durand: The opening acoustic strum reminded me of Thanks for the Frisbee and that first click /clap had me smiling broadly. This is a touch of class, tight and melodic with a really engaging structure. When it gets going it reminds me a lot of Cat Stevens. Your voice sounds a bit strange in places, maybe you're straining a bit or something but it goes a bit nasal when you stretch, it's a minor thing. The 'doos' are cool and when they first came in I thought they were kazoos which got me excited but the slow realisation was cool too.
Spinlock: A quick Ziggy Stardust steal perhaps? This is a pretty good recording but the soft rock drumming, though quite nicely done, is making this sound a bit like the 'Doctors' theme tune. you know? Neighbours has ended and that distinctive drum roll kicks in that just makes you wish there were more Quincy re-runs to go round. The chorus unfortunately does little to dispel the daytime telly vibe which is a shame cos this song felt like it had a lot of potential. I still think you do though (and when I say potential, I mean of course for it to go in the direction
I wanted it to go, which is techy, pretty and a bit quirky) so I'm interested to hear what else you can write, especially cos your vocals are a refreshing change from all these hammy american accents, hehe.
Steve Durand: My first impression is that I like the vocal style you've opted for this week, maybe only because the lower range your occupying makes you sound more cabaret than sesame street. I like the persistent groove, and of course the brass as always is beyond reproach, but it's the lyrics that do it for me here. That's an acheivement as I'm not usually inclined to listen that hard to the lyrics let alone really enjoy them on first listen, but you've got a complementary blend of drama and comedy that I can't help but like.
Steve Hand Puppet and His Poorly Considered Solo Effort: Let's find out how poorly considered this effort is.....well, it's not GnG, or more to the point boring GnG, so points for that. Aaah, I see what you've done, you've lowered my expectations so I'm pleased when this isn't incredibly shoddy, clever. Well, I've seen through your ruse
, and it's okay. This is average, certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
Swilington: I don't know why I was expecting this to sound like some kind of country rock band(!?!?), I must have confused you with...someone. Anyway, when I get ethereal pads and ambient breaks floating down the speakers it's considerably more welcome. I like how this has Ulrich Schnauss-like sounds and melodies but Aim style beats on it; I'll keep it but I wish it was longer, this could have been 7 minutes long and been awesome, especially as it starts to get layered in the last 30 seconds. More please.
Those Meddling Kids: I wrote this in my head without any instruments, that doesn't often happen. It took about 3 days start to finish and I like it, I wish I did more songs that were listenable like this one.
Wes Davis: This is one of my favourites of the fight, it's all good, but it's mainly the ideas that you've used in it than the how the song actually goes. You manage to play duff notes without making the guitar sound bad.
wormsweater: It'd be weird streaming all your songs in the archive, there's such a strange mix of tracks that are so different in quality and style, and then to hear this. How can someone who made this make all that other stuff, I think it's great, kind of adds value to your quality tunes. I wasn't expecting the jazzy undertones from you but it's cool, and the general tune and arrangment is, in places, absolutely beautiful. The widdling makes it sound a bit wanky but whenever one of those high-reverb sounds and really tight minimalist drum rolls happens it sends shivers down my spine. good ones.
Zoosneakers: Aah, the last song, it's good to be here, it feels like I've just seen Mallrats and the 90's indie chug is asking me politely to leave the theatre. This is like the pacemaker in a marathon, you're not taking part, you're just sending everybody on their way. job done. fade to black.
That was impressive, there are more
good songs than
okay and
bad put together
I'm gonna decide who to vote for between Paco, Swilington, Booty and Damien. It is hard for me not to include Caravan Ray in that list as well as Wormsweater, Wes, Jim, Cranial Biffida, Ross
and Steve, Mel. and Masterhyde and JR. That's an album worth listening to right there. I'd put TMK at number 6 8)
Well, considering this was written for, and recorded with my daughter...I sort of thought it is one of the less gay things I have ever done. It's just my attempt at being The Wiggles - and I won't stand for anyone saying there is anything gay about 4 men in coloured skivvies.
