Dawn, Diary, Land, Survival, and (Day of the Dead reviews)

[hillbilly]

and by the way those nylon strings were killer. good picking.

[Chumpy]

Ugh, this took me way too long, it didn't help that I kept putting it off. But better late than never right? My apologies to the folks who I didn't finish reviewing, I figured I had to get these posted before too much more time had passed.

Caravan Niveous
As goes the chorus, so goes the song. The verse build things up nicely, but the chorus drops you flat. The chorus melody descends (a literal downer) as the words 'Damn it she was cool' ... state the obvious? Is it telling me what to think? 'These things never last' is not making me feel those regretful, mournful, blues feelings, it's more like an admission. The chorus just gives me bad feels. This song could have just as easily been titled 'On Lazy Sundays', which is come to think of it, a pretty good title.

Here, Atticus
I really liked this, but my wife started yelling 'skip!' after the second half of the first verse started. Apparently the thought of another 24 seconds of funeral dirge was too much for her. That's when I put on my headphones, and I'm glad I did, the Queenesque vocals and the buildup culminating in the first 'day of the dead', and then those three haunting horn notes ... so worth it. By 1:10 the dirge is over, the dead have awakened, and the song morphs into a spooky rocker as the dead return to walk among us. VOTE.

Heuristics Inc.
The vocal melody often feels uncertain and and loosely defined, combine that with the post-apocalyptic industrial sound and you've got some rough going. I think a number of the sung notes are flat too? I use guide tracks to have in my headphones when I'm struggling to consistently sing the vocal melody, which really helps. I also cycle-record like 10-15 vocal takes, and then split them up into word or phrased sized chunks and then 'comp' each take to try to assemble the best vocal possible take. It's a pain in the ass, but the alternative is hard-to-listen-to vocals, which kill a song.

Inflatable Vegetables
This is one of my favorites from the fight. I've been thinking a lot about hooks recently, trying to identify them in songs when I hear them, and trying to leave spots for them in things I write. The bow-wow-wow hook in this song is an excellent example of how they're supposed to work I think. My only complaint with this song is that the last bent guitar notes aren't allowed to hang in the air after the song finishes, they just abruptly stop, which is unsatisfying. VOTE.

James Owens
Well performed, uncommon style, spot on topical lyrics, great track. Vocally, there are some high parts that really test your falsetto, but you pull it off. I marveled quite a bit about how good all the acoustic instruments sound together, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, stand-up bass, bongos, everything really comes together really nicely. I have nothing to critique about this song, but am continually impressed by the musical skill and know-how of folks who participate in Song Fight. VOTE.

J. Biveous
When I don't know what to say about a song, I usually fall back on what what it reminds me of, which is only marginally better than saying nothing at at all. This reminds me of the LA punk band X. Man, JB can sing, like at 1:49, wow. Some of Niv's best writing is in this song. "I am the spoiled child of a God that doesn't care", "pains of need", "emperor's best clothes", interesting lines with good imagery. Thanks Niv for clueing me in that Katrina is a reference to La Calavera Catrina. Enjoyed this one a lot. VOTE.

Jerkatorium
Niv wrote lyrics for us that were reminiscent of what we did for Leave my Brother Alone where we incorporated a bunch of song titles from The Replacements in the lyrics. In this case they're all Grateful Dead song titles, and it's done cleverly. The song is about getting on the bus and seeing the Dead. His original lyrics were actually more fully formed than the chopped down version we ended up with to fit Mr. Jerkatorium's bouncy fun melody.

Jim Fallope and his Fallopian Dudes
Very pretty, I like the flute. The line 'why can't you feel my breath / the soft caress of death' is delightfully spooky set against the soft Bossa Nova sound, and is the best part of the song IMHO. The other lyrics are nicely topical. If this song were just a bit more focused and less meandering, it would have earned my vote.

Johnny Cashpoint
'Sphincters could remain untightened' is an odd line, and makes me wonder right off the bat how serious the song is. The synth 'drum' beat is pretty excellent, and it drives the song nicely. Lines "brightest ghouls in the box", and "There's nothing worse than nothing", are good, and the ending with "everything we've got is <pause> here" is nicely done.

Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff
Dig that funky bass! The chorus "I know she's playing a wicked game" along with that synth line really work for me. She whispered 'make love to me' as we tumbled to the grave, she tasted like sugar ... Man some nice imagery here.

Lunkhead
Gorgeous. Really, so pretty, that steel sings, along with the rhodes quietly playing in the background. I love the Lemonheads, and Lunk's voice reminds me of Evan Dando here. I voted for this song without thinking about the lyrics, or how the song title got incorporated into the song, or any of the other dumb things I think about when I try to think critically Song Fight songs. I voted for this song just for how it made me feel, and it made me feel good. VOTE.

Possum Sauce
Omg, the way you sing 'brains', 'remains', 'names', 'drains' is so good. Is it a drawl? Some kind of accent? Whatever it is, my ears really picked up the first time I heard it. The imagery of the dead coming up through the drains on the day of the dead absolutely nails it. Of course the music is perfect for the theme, with the bone xylophone (or whatever it is) the low spooky whistle, and that stand-up bass sounds so good. This is my #1 favorite song of the fight. VOTE

[josh]

Here's my late submission. Glad I finally got around to it. These are some great lyrics: