we need (Everybody Now 'to give' reviews)

[Dan Wrekenhaus 2]

sorry. i'm all done.

[jack]

sorry for the pointless bickering. here's some tough love payback.

dither dander
this sounds like wreckdom trying to do a real arrangement. there's parts of this i really like and parts of this i really don't like. it seems like you took a whole bunch of different loops and put them all together in different ways. i can respect the effort but it comes across to me anyways as a bit disjointed. well produced, but too segmented. it's like each part could be developed further as a standalone idea but this is more like a medley tune. the rocking guitar and sweeping vox section that goes into the outro is particularly nice and could be developed into a really kick ass tune i think.

noah mclaughlin
very heartfelt and honest approach. not so hot on the chin rocker inflection but the singing for the most part is pretty decent. lots of clipping so i'll defer on the production quibbles. the song itself is ok but nothing really stands out.

daddy bingo
the looseness works for this. it's kind of sloppy but endearing in a chili peppers/butthole surfers sort of way. great bass playing!

vae sitrum
this is pretty cool. sounds like roymond. reminds me of something john lennon might do. chorus is especially nice vocally with harmonies.

the over
guitar playing is really pretty and well done. the vocals are good too, but maybe a bit dry, although when they double up with the harmonies, it really improves them. not sure what inspired the overdriven guitar. i'd chuck that part as i don't think it adds anything of value and just detracts from the "lushness" of the tune. the nylon string lead during the dirty parts could just play over the acoustic backing and it would be beautiful. you could add a flute patch or something. all of this is just my humble opinion mind you....i just didn't dig the dirty guitar but everything else about this i really liked. that dirty guitar could come back and haunt you and maybe cost you a vote.

ants invisible
well, the production on this is stellar so i'll just leave it at that. the arrangement is really excellent. lots of dynamic shift. you have an inherant knack for developing a hook jim. and you know how to play up your strengths. vocally, you are a friggin zen master yoda of building harmony vocals. the execution on this is also in my opinion pro quality studio musician level. it sounds like you have a room full of kids singing the harmonies, clapping, getting the fuck into this. this might be the best thing i've ever heard from you, and even without rocking guitars, it rocks out pretty solid and the vote is yours to lose from here on out.

the bile
it's kind of a mess. the drums and guitar don't really seem in synch.

tuba toothpaste
holy crap, i'm tempted to vote for this. but jim is too strong. nice job.

andy and sarah
pretty good. to me, the verses seem a bit weak but the chorus is really good. it's like the energy really picks up (with the instrumentation) during the chorus. nice rectified lead too. it's nicely done, so when i say weak i don't mean weak production or playing, more like dynamically. good tune.

daj werkenhorse
sounds like a purely intentioned bad song. congratulations. mission accomplished.

sonofsupercar
long time no see. you guys always bring the rawk. love it. killer mix.

poor june
hey, cool little backwards intro into the guitar. dude, your recordings are sounding much better these days! it sounds like your playing direct in with an acoustic electric maybe? i don't hear the usual poor june hiss which is awesome. and i like how you intersprerse the backwards guitar stuff. it sounds like you're singing flat a bunch of the time though. maybe reverb the vox more.

edge of LA
hey this is pretty good. i could see this being a theme song for some teen oriented TV show on nickelodian.

faves: ants, supercar, edge of LA, vae sitrum

[EightLeggedOedipus]

End of crap-flames... start of new oens:

Andy Balham feat. Sarah Beanz
+++ This is good, not quite as accessible as Tank Top +++

Ants (Invisible)
+++ Jim, awesome. +++
--- I personally miss the short-song-string-together project. ---

The Bile
--- OMG, my cousin wrote thsi exact same song. Or maybe I just consciously tuned it out the same way ---

Daj Werkenhorse
--- TTS ---
+++ A decent beat on this outing +++
/// Is that it? ///

The 'Over
--- David: Sing! Don't talk! ---
/// Hearing your intonation, maybe "Don't sing, don't talk" ///
+++ Although it is a pretty song with the harmonies and Weakerthans chorus. Ooh, and this part with the talkover would be good if it wasn't talkover and cheesy MIDI drums +++

Dither Dander
--- Um, what is this crap? ---
+++ Although I like these dreamy guitars around 1:10 +++
--- But then a crap-rap and 2 minutes of the same boring part? ---

Edge of LA
+++ This is a really-well put together song. Decent cowbell drum rock, and confident vocals. +++
--- I think the major opportunity is in guitar sound / mixing / EQ ---
/// I dream of live drums. Maybe leaf could take a minute to collab with you too ///
+++ I really dig those long notes in the verse melody +++

Father Bingo
+++ Bad ass bass. Nice experimental mixing +++
--- If your singer ever gets too stoned to perform, I'd be happy to collab and surreptitiously replace him ---

Noah McLaughlin
--- Oh no, not more Noah McLaughlin! ---

Poor June
--- Dude, tune your guitar. And tune your voice while you're at it ---
+++ Oh, sweet! Awesome reverse sweeps +++
--- Off key noisings are distracting. What happened to your killer pianism ? ---

sonofsupercar
+++ This is really wicked. +++
--- In an atonal unlistenable way. ---
+++ Cobain stoned improv style vocals. Nice jungle rhythm at 3 mins +++

Tuba Toothpaste
+++ Is that rela tuba? It might be MIDI, but that's pretty hot anyway +++
--- Talkover. Will I always rail on this? Pretty much. ---
/// I get the picture, but we're really repetitive ///

Vae Sitrum
+++ Decent from intro bass and piano +++
--- 80s goth karaoke night! (less or better reverb). The chorus part sound like it's meant be harmony, but it isn't ---

If the gods of friend-floods are off this week, Jim will win. I'm voting for LA.

[blue]

ABAL+SB: I'm not sure the singer meshes well with duelling distorted guitar parts, especially over the arpeggios. Her voice is very fluttery, and might be better suited for more laid-back arrangements. As it is, she's getting pummelled.

Ants: I wonder about your new trick of burying the vox in parts. Every other bit, which I guess might be the verses, is kinda inaudible in the beginning. The show-tune bit was a bit of a deal-killer. As manic as it was, it never felt like it resolved itself into a song for me. I'd like to hear it rearranged into something a little more palatable. It charts out into something like 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 1+ 1+ 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 5 5 3 3 6 6 3 3 6 6 3 3.. wshew. I can understand the temptation to keep a good thing going, but I think you went one part over the line there.

Bile: Not really much of a song there.

Daj Shitenhedz: HAHAHAAH OMG I GOT THE JOKE AND IT SURE WAS FUNNY. To answer your question - no one cares why your songs suck. It is enough that they suck.

Teh Over: Mix could use a little seperation, maybe. The distorted part, imo, would work muuuch better as a heavy acoustic bit. IOW, instead of hitting the pedal, really jam it out on a couple of acoustic tracks. You don't hear this often on songfight, but I think you've actually got too much low cut out of the mix. There's no body to anything. Can't go wrong with Cool Hand Luke, but that particular sample has seen plenty of use already.

Dither: OK I hated the music but I laughed at the lyrics anyways. .. OK, now there's a new song. Is this the Bungle school of songwriting? Or.. acousto-bizkit? Heeey, it's Led Zepplin... Now you're just throwing shit against the wall.

Edge of LA: Sophomoric bop-pop. The lyrics didn't add anything to a very bland arrangement. Neither did the guitar solo.

Daddy Bingo: I dunno what's wrong with me, but this is my favorite track so far. Lots of raw energy and the Albini bass tone.. Can't go wrong. TWO BASSES. Frickin' genius. OK, it should have stopped at 1:50. Maybe the fact that it didn't stop makes it better.

Noah M: You're very earnest. Most of the guy+guitar stuff that works around here involves a melody somewhere. You used an extra track for harmonies, so you coulda used one for some more interesting guitar stuff too. Oh wait, there it is. Too late! Establish it early! You're the rich man's Poor June.

Poor June: YAR, backwards guitar 4tw. You gotta take some bass out of your voice or sing about 4" off the mic, mister mumbles.

SOS: duh-nuh-nuh-nuh nuh-nuh nuh-nuh MY MAKITA. That is one EPIC FREAKIN' CHORUS, folks. EAT IT JON SPENCER, EAT IT.

Tuba: The jokes wears. It's like lo-fi analog The Landfills. The little bit with the out-of-time acoustic over it is funny. Is that a real Tuba?

Vaes: The narrative lyric thing over lite-rock isn't exciting me much. [edit] But the song gets much better at the end.

I liked Ants and Bingo and The Jon Spencer Suck Explosion.

[Jim of Seattle]

Favorites in blue

Father Bingo
Sounds like it's going to be great based on the first 30 seconds, then it goes on 45 seconds, and then almost a full minute, and I'm thinking "When is the song going to start?" Then the vocals get started and they kind of wreck it. It doesn't sound like you had any idea what to do for vocals. This plays essentially like an instrumental. As an instrumental is sort of fun, but the speaking and other vocal stuff doesn't add anything.

<font color=blue>VaeSitrum
Again, this one starts out very promising. Very nice tight groove. Is this Johnny Cashpoint? This is a pretty cool song, but the lead vocalist isn't up to the task, nor is the engineer for the lead vocalist. Maybe someday this song will be covered by someone, and it'll be seen as a very good song. It's also quite a bit too long, made longer-feeling by the fact that it's hard to make out the lyrics. I like the bridge a lot, but I think it could come about a minute earlier. Good job.</font>

Bile
First thing you need to fix is vocal recording. Lots of pops and peaking. But there is a good sense of rocking which could mean you've got some good songs coming up if you fix that. I sort of like the echo-ey effect on the other vocals, but that sounds like a bridge, and so I wanted to come back to a verse or chorus, but it just sort of stops, making me think you really don't have a grasp of the structure of the song.

Poor June
I like the verse and the chorus both, but I think the chorus is a little repetitive, basically just the same bit repeated four times. The backwards guitar stuff is neat, and the effects you put underneath the second chorus work pretty well. I think to make this song work great I'd give the vocals more energy and clean up the lyrics, add some rhyme and structure, and add some variation in the chorus.

David Over
Nice enough. I like the simplicity and that it doesn't really get boring even though it's so simple. That's hard to do. I don't think the bridge works too well. Seems pretty unwelcome, like you've drawn a pretty picture, then you scribble over it.

Ants (Invisible) (Me)
This was very hard production-wise. It was a challenge making the epic uber-chorus, as I referred to it (the part that says "no one wants to be left here") sound big without getting muddy, but also making the quiet opening sound loud enough, but not so loud that it wrecks the sense of growth. I'm pretty pleased with this one, though. I didn't intend to sound 60's, but yet again, I did. Unintentional. I think I broke my personal record for greatest number of different instrument patches in a single song. I've got lots of little things in there like the wind chimes at the beginning, about 1 bar of flute in the bridge, timpani, 2 different string patches, 2 different guitars, piano, organ, 2 percussion sets plus clapping and tambourine, 2 different basses. The tambourine is live, which I'm proud of. I bought it at a toy store for 5 bucks. When it broke apart during recording I knew I was rocking. This is also the first song where I varied the effects over time using envelopes. So some tracks had two different reverbs on them and I faded back and forth between them. This song was ambitious. Took too much time. I can't keep doing songs like this.

Daj Werkenhorse
Fun for about 20 seconds.

<font color=blue>Edge of LA
I don't know what that earlier review was talking about. I love that dissonant chord in the chorus. My favorite part of the song. It's the hook that keeps me coming back. The arrangement apart from that feels a little flat, with the same texture continuing for too much of it. I wish you'd tried varying up the band a bit, maybe pulled out the power guitar for a verse to shake it up. But I like this song a lot. Contender.</font>

sonofsupercar
Disappointment of the week. Second time through the fight I couldn't make it all the way through. At first I thought you were going for a controlled madness like you've done really well in other songs, but you only really manage the madness part this time. I think it just goes a little past the line so that the madness doesn't work. Too bad, because I can still hear the great band I know in there. This was just a misstep. I should be releived, as soon as I saw you were in the fight my first thought was "Oh crap, I lose".

Noah McLaughlin
I love the kids playing in the background. Gives the song a real time and place. Makes me think you're singing on a weekday afternoon, alone in a crummy apartment on a sunny day with the window open. Kind of a groovy depressing feeling like I used to have sometimes in my 20's. The trouble, however, is that your vocals are too often off the mark enough that I can'ttell what the tune is supposed to be. Also, the vocals seem kind of affected. In the very beginning, the way you sing "ever-body" doesn't feel genuine. Sounds like you're trying hard to sound like a bluesy ballad. Not to sound like your teacher, but I think you'd do very well to concentrate on singing the right notes for a while and only THEN working on your interpretation.

<font color=blue>Tuba Toothpaste
This is funny enough that Ipay attention through the whole thing. The way you work the title into the prose is fun, though I get tired of it after about a minute and a half. And your rants lose focus, so you end up sounding like you're just going off for no purpose. I like the tuba-drum sound. Contender.</font>

<font color=blue>Andy Balham
I appreciate the work that went into the lyrics. There are lots of rhymes, and your prosody is real good. That takes time and effort. I think there are too many lyric ideas per verse. They read like lots of short sentences which are thematically connected but don't always flow musically. I'd take half of the lyric ideas and flesh them out. For example, you throw away a line like "a hundred ways to get stressed out". It's a good line. Good enough to warrant an entire verse. Like what are some examples? Make us feel it, don't just tell us. Composition-wise, it's nice. How about some vocal harmonies on the chorus? Good job.</font>

[Jim of Seattle]

Ants: I wonder about your new trick of burying the vox in parts. Every other bit, which I guess might be the verses, is kinda inaudible in the beginning. The show-tune bit was a bit of a deal-killer. As manic as it was, it never felt like it resolved itself into a song for me. I'd like to hear it rearranged into something a little more palatable. It charts out into something like 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 1+ 1+ 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 5 5 3 3 6 6 3 3 6 6 3 3.. wshew. I can understand the temptation to keep a good thing going, but I think you went one part over the line there.

Yikes, I wondered if anyone would call me on that. I totally agree. I wanted to see if anyone else was bugged by the wacked out structure. I think if I re-did this I'd take out the "show-tune" bit as you call it and re-arrange the whole thing. I kept telling myself that McCartney got away with this kind of thing for about 3 years in the early 70's (Unlce Albert, Band on the Run, etc.) so maybe it'd be OK.

I'm not sure what you mean by "burying the vox in the parts". ??

Thanks for the helpful review.

[Father Bingo]

Daddy Bingo: I dunno what's wrong with me, but this is my favorite track so far.

Ah, you just like it because the crazy old man in the sample is singing about you.

[nyjm]

Noah McLaughlin
I love the kids playing in the background. Gives the song a real time and place. Makes me think you're singing on a weekday afternoon, alone in a crummy apartment on a sunny day with the window open. Kind of a groovy depressing feeling like I used to have sometimes in my 20's.

woo hoo! it worked. that is exactly how i recorded this song. the kids were playing outside and it just fit the mood right, so i stuck my mic out the window.

The trouble, however, is that your vocals are too often off the mark enough that I can'ttell what the tune is supposed to be.

well, okay, so perhaps as a producer i can convey an image sucessfully. but yeah, you're right, my singing sucks. it always has. i need like weeks to get a vocal even close to right. sad thing is, i used to be worse *shudder*

thanks, everyone, for the helpful feedback. next week, there will be no sign of my voice whatsoever, and i'll keep working on actually hitting a note.

[Tuba Toothpaste]

Is that a real Tuba?

• It's a real tuba

[Sarah Beanz]

Now, i don't know much about the technicalities of music but I thought it was about time I put my tuppance worth in....

Andy Balham & Moi
Well i think Andy did a top job on writing the song, I think the chorus is Epic-ish...however on my own singing...strained and yes i agree with others that it lacks passion..i'm trying honestly! This singing malarky is all new to me.

Ants (Invisible)
I really like it when it gets going, it's fun and makes you want to jump up and do odd 60's style dancing...although it really reminds of something else.

The Bile
I have to say, it sounds like he's singing a different song from the music....sorry It has potential but just doesn't make it and then it all gets really confusing and noisy.

Daj Werkenhorse
Not sure i understand what this is about at all. It's just way too repeatative and can't see how it would have taken more than 5 minutes to make. Soz.

The Over
Pleasant and relaxing to listen to. Like the guitar. ..but not the distorted noisey bit. Reckon it spoils it a bit. Otherwise good.

Edge of LA
Ooh I like this one. Just seems to work really well. Can have quite a bop to this one!

Noah Mclaughlin
I like this. It's got something and i like the tempo. He has an unusual voice, however i find it a bit depressive. Would be nice if there were more instruments in it later. The guitar by itself gets a bit samey.

Poor June
Is it meant to sound like it's going backwards? Not sure i like that bit. Just sounds out of tune.

Tuba Toothpaste
This is funny and well produced. Like the tuba. But it reminds me of that song that goes "Do one thing every day that scares you. Be nice to your knees etc..." It needs a chorus to break away from the chit chat. But i still like it.

Vae Sitrum
Are you John Lennon? No.
Do really like this one though. It's got a good overall sound. Can imagine it up in the old hit parade!

Father Bingo
I like the sound of it but feel it never really goes anywhere...then all of a sudden it does but it doesn't feel right. The drums are really chaotic. Makes you want to pogo at times though...which might be fun for some people!


Sonofsupercar
Sounds like alot went into making it...it's good but just not my thing.

Dither Dander
A bit to mixed up. Started off like a reasonable house choon, then it went really scary!! Then it chilled out a bit. Then it went all rock 'n' Roll. Just too many genres in one record I'm afraid.

Reckon my favourite was Ants Invisible

[Bolio]

Ants (Invisible)

JoS does it again. Wow. Now my FAVORITE Songfighter.

[Jim of Seattle]

Whoa, so how cool is THAT? Thanks, Bolio. I've never had more fun songwriting than I've had in the last couple months.

Especially sweet given your avatar, since Kenny G and I both went to the same music school at the same time and his whole crowd was a bunch of assholes.

[Edge of LA]

Andy Balham & Sarah
The song is great. I was singing the chorus this morning. Sarah, I don’t think your voice sounds strained. But it is not the typical tone I’m used to hearing with this type of music. Maybe Andy will write a song to showcase your vocal talents. One of the top 3.

Ants (Invisible)
Too quiet for me in the beginning, but then, OMFG! This song leaves breathless and makes my head swim. Maybe that’s’ the closest I’ll get to feeling “psychedelic”. My top pick.

The Bile
There are definite timing issues with this song. Melody not all there.. HOWEVER, it is very creative production-wise with its distinct sections. The mix needs to be balanced out, and the vocals reworked.

Daj Werkenhorse
Kraftwerk-ish. This could be interesting if you had changed things up a bit and built up or broke down the “instrumentation”.

The Over
Nice Ukele. Nicely written and nicely arranged. Nice.

Dither Dander
Enjoyed the smooth groove at 1:00-1:40, the rock at 2:30-3:40. Otherwise, the song kinda has “multiple personality disorder” and lacks lyrical substance.

Edge of LA - ME
Sorry for the pitch problems in the second round of verses, and striking that wrong chord at 1:46. I fixed the chord thing, switched out some lyrics, and closed the song off sooner here.

This was fun for me to write and record. The first song I’ve record mid-week after work. I started around 7pm and finished around 1:30 am. I think all my other submissions have been recorded on Saturdays. I would have liked more opportunity to play with the dynamics and instrumentation of the song, but the song was getting to long and didn’t have much to develop it further. Thanks for everyone’s feedback.

Father Bingo
A lot of opportunity here for a melody and lyrics. I like the music, and the kid piano at the end!

Noah Mclaughlin
This sounds like the old Poor June. The vocal line does not go anywhere musically. It just seems to sit on that one higher note. I like the guitar solo.

Poor June
Your singing has really come a long way. It’s nice to hear the guitar. I’ve always liked your songwriting, and your vocal delivery has improved. More passion and conviction in your voice could give the song more power. The song goes a little long. I miss the piano. hehe.

Sonofsupercar
Awesome build up to 0:42. A little too much dissonance for me. Nice drum/guitar break at 2:45. Guitar could be showcased more if it were a little cleaner. A lot of room for development here which I’m sure could have happened if there were more time.

Tuba Toothpaste
Funny song. I agree with Sarah, this song needs a chorus. It would help tie things together. Wait, what was that at 1:50. A guitar? The song could have used more of that or more of 2:03-2:08.

Vae Sitrum
This is a sweet-a$$ song. Groovin’ and mellow. Aside from pitch issues, this song would fit into a movie soundtrack! One of my top 4.

[Bolio]

Kenny G and I both went to the same music school at the same time and his whole crowd was a bunch of assholes.

LOL don't want to turn this into a Kenny G discussion but, how did this LOSER ever get to be where he is? Any song of his I've heard could gag a goldfish. For me to listen to a Saxophone player they must be technically sound & also have at least a trace of soul! (for this reason, The Bird is the best ever.)

[Jim of Seattle]

Yeah, he likes to play sharp all the time. He and his whole little group of brass players were guys who thought they were above everyone else. That's brass players for you, I suppose, but these guys were worse. And their instructor (now deceased) was the worst of the bunch. I remember coming into his office once because I was writing a piece which included some brass parts, and I thought he could look at it and tell me whether it was decent writing for the horns. He said, "Yeah, well, everyone wants to have a minute to talk with Doc Sevrinson too, but he doesn't have that kind of time." Then he glanced at it for about 10 seconds and proceeded to rip me a new one about it. Jerk. Good riddance. Anyway, he was one of Kenny G's mentors, to give you an idea.

[Bolio]

Kennyisms

Great stuff. Wow, a real source of info for a 'Kenny G Tribute'....... in another thread some day.

Now back to your regularly scheduled fight.

[Father Bingo]

Every time I think of this title, I want to say it like the Tuba Toothpaste song.

[Edge of LA]

Jim... question:

Were the "bent" vocal pitches at 0:08 and 0:14 intentional? I'm thinking they were.

[Poor June]

haha thanx for all the reviews... i'll try to bring the piano back some more... i'll have to try more production stuff with gettin' my voice not to mix with low notes as much... probably singing out more would help... certain notes i'm really not good at 'singing out'... without soundin' like eddie veddar or scott stapp... not somethin' i do on purpose... haha...
so i try to get loud without it bein' too close to that...
i don't really mind a lil' similarity... but i don't care to sound like 'em...

and yea... the backwards guitar under the chorus (which the second chorus had a foward guitar in it 2.... which both were out of tune)... i was gonna tune to the song... but i wanted to see what it sounded like... and when i did... i didn't really hate it... haha... i wasn't quite in love with it... but i couldn't get myself to take it out... cause it kinda drew away from the length alittle bit... to me anyhow... i do think it was kinda slow and long... but i enjoyed writing the song anyhow...
i expected most of my reviews to read the ways they did... so i guess it wasn't a big deal.... haha... but i kinda do like the song... but piano shall be brought back... \m/...
and now to finish my octothorpe cover... and then i'll try to get all my reviews done... sorry for the wait...

[Jim of Seattle]

EoLA: Yes, those were intentional of course, though I don't think I nailed either of them. By the time I got to that part, I was tired and my wife had had just about enough of my being holed up in the basement. Plus I made the dumb mistake of singing all the loud rock parts first, then having to go back and do the slow pretty parts after my voice was totally tired out.

June, it's ok to sing the way you are singing (on-key, of course), the problem for me is that it competes with instrumewnts playing at the same frequency. So, for example, if you have a bass-heavy vocal performance (either from it being your voice or from the way it's recorded) then you have to be careful not to have too much else at that same low level, or else you run the risk of the two parts stepping on each other and getting a muddy result.

[Poor June]

yea i know what ya mean... i'll work on tryin' to get it to mix all together better...

[joshw]

Scoring Key: (Production, Performance, Song)

Andy Balham (8, 7, 7)

A little cliche-y, particularly in the lyrics department, but that's just the weak link in an otherwise strong chain. The timing of the performance needs some tightening in parts, and I'd also like more energy in the vox. I like your take on the title. I was expecting a bunch of disco party songs for some reason. Good tune.

Ants (Invisible) (8, 7, 8)

Very nice, especially the intro. Some unique chords going on. The production is almost great. Parts are lacking stereo spread, and the fact that other parts aren't make them stand out and sound kinda flat. Good job of keeping things interesting with lots of contrasting parts. I think any of these parts could star in their own song. Some clipping on the louder parts. Heh.. the Outkast reference saved me from making the inevitable comment. Nice.

Bile (7, 6, 5)

Not my thing. This sounds sloppy, and not in the cool "I don't care" sloppy sense. There's not much of a song going on here.

davidover (7, 7, 7)

Pretty guitar work. The "Steve Earle minus the edge" vocal delivery doesn't work as well for me. It needs some grit to the vocals. Still, a really nice tune. It's got that vague cowboy feel, but enough interesting stuff to make the rest feel ironic, in a good way. I have no idea what I'm saying. But I liked.

Edge of LA (7, 7, 7)

The mix needs more stereo spread, especially the drums. For full-on rock like this, I always like hearing a sound that feels like it's attacking my head from all directions. Nice fun crowd pleaser. I do wish there were a bit more energy behind it, mostly on the drums and vox.

Father Bingo (8, 7, 6)

At the :10 mark, I'm thinking this is either going to be great or really bad. If it takes kind of a Dead Milkmen turn, we're set. Hmm.. a minute in to get to the vocals, and the payoff wasn't quite what I was hoping for. This had the elements of a possibly great song, but never made it there. Then again, it's definitely not bad, either. Cute play keyboard at the end.

Noah McLaughlin (6, 6, 6)

I guess I'm feeling anal about stereo spread tonight, but this sounds like it's mono. Even the reverb feels mono. Really bad MP3 compression artifacts, too - you might try a different encoder. Oh right, the song. Not doing much for me. Kinda slow and plodding, and the vocal delivery has that Staind-style marbles in mouth sound. It isn't coming across as sincere. Too long, too.

Poor June (7, 7, 6)

192kbps Poor June? I'm curious. Hmm.. you've definitely come a long way with production. This really needs more treble, but it otherwise sounds great. The performance is really improving, too. Ooh, there's the backwards stuff. And I like it this time around. The downside is that it still has that dark plodding sound. It's not that I don't like dark or plodding songs, but they really need to move somewhere, especially if they're over the 4 minute mark. Something more interesting with the arrangement or instrumentation, you know? By the 3m mark, it's just been ABAB with A and B feeling really similar.

Sonofsupercar (8, 8, 6)

Nice buildup at the end of the verse. The song itself isn't very good, but there's enough ear candy to keep me interested. I'm getting kinda bored by the 2m mark. Could you lend some of your energy to pretty much everyone else in this fight? Thanks. Great drumming. The production still has that harsh tinny sound in the lower treble region, but I guess that's part of your sound. Interesting, if nothing else.

Tuba Toothpaste (7, 7, 7)

Bonus points for the name. What's with the drums? Holy phasing problem, Batman! The idea was kinda cute. It grew on me.

VaeSitrum (8, 7, 8)

Nice chord on "latchkey". I like the unsettled feel to this. There's something about the vocal delivery that I don't like. Nice bridge. This is musically very smart, but it doesn't sound like you're trying to be clever. Great little horn thing at the end. Possible vote.

Oh, you're the last song. So definite vote. Good job.