She tells me but (I Never Know reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Never knowing shocking but we're nothing
We're just moments
We're clever but clueless
We're just human
Amusing and confusing
We're helping rebuilding and we're growing
Never know

[Pigfarmer Jr]

lyrics: viewtopic.php?t=12704

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[blindmime]

The Idiot King is always a favorite. The lyric can be read as a song by a cannibal. Love the instrumental middle break and the general wall of guitars throughout.

I think Wink's track is a mighty impressive nod to OG progressive rock. So many cool ideas. Love how the leslie organ creeps into the mix from time to time. The guitar are just a treat. Love it.

The Berkley Social Scene track is excellent as well. I love the interplay of the guitars left and right. They blend well with distinct differences that keep the track interesting. Drums pack a lot of feel. Great one.

[the idiot king]

The lyric can be read as a song by a cannibal.

That was not intentional but please now consider it canon.

[j$]

W.A.I.L. I.A.A.C.

I must admit, I only came here to listen to Blind Mime Ensemble so the rest of my reviews should probably be ignored as the other side of favouritism, but damn me if this wasn't a very good little fight. So, there you go ...

Blind Mime - not much to say except this is bloody great. Starts off giving me Bruce Haack vibes, then 80's pop kicks in. Love it! Especially the mild vocoder on the vocal and that bass tone. Great stuff! And I also adore the pretty little coda, though it may not be strictly essential. Absolutely Brilliant! Cheers. VOTE!

Allen "Wink" Iverson - starts well with that pulsing synth and then oh dear, prog! That's a personal dislike though I won't be 'docking points' for my genre bias if I can avoid it. I will say while it makes my skin crawl, it is very well mixed (bar the lead guitar being a bit too loud, maybe 7 percent imo). Your voice sounds great with this band sound. If I was watching this live, I would be the one to have quietly snuck off to the toilets to wash the horror of prog out of my ears. At least it didn't go on for 17 minutes!

Idiot Kings - Nice mood created in the first 20 seconds. My instinct is to want for a big chorus but I'm open to the somewhere different this is going. Very well done,though as I listen I am stuck by a thought that I don't really understand myself - 'this song is stuck in its sound' - I think i mean it might work better with a very different arrangement, like a nice farfisa; and only minimal guitars? I heard a lot of this in the late 90's, and I think the tune would be better served not drowning in a sea of guitars. But ignore me, I'm probably just talking crap. Not bad, for sure.

BBS - Considering my long stated aversion to BBS, I actually really like this. I mean all the old complaints are there, (strained vocal, stodgy lyric trying to suggest they mean anything) but it touches on my love of punk and rock and tickles it, so good work. Though for me, the BVs sound a bit wrong when they kick in, not sure if it's the singer or the backing singer, but it doesn't work as a bridge to these ears. Nice little solo. Ah damn, do I have to VOTE for BBS? Looks like it. Though the 10 second end just felt like an unnecessary addition. It's OK to fade out occasionally.

j$

[the idiot king]

Allen "Wink" Iverson: I appreciate the musicianship and writing; the chord progressions are very nice. But for whatever reason this isn’t really grabbing me at the moment. Unexpected prog is tough for me… I have no idea what that says about me. No one can claim you didn’t go for the optional challenge, that’s for sure.

Berkeley Social Scene: Some unexpected chord changes here, I dig it. This song feels like it would rip live. The melodies aren’t getting stuck in my head, but I think the energy makes up for it.

Blind Mime Ensemble: This rules. Are the vocals the bit sampled from an old tape? There’s not a ton of epic pop around these parts, and I’m definitely here for it when it is. This is getting a vote and a download.

The Idiot Kings: The lyrics are now canonically about cannibalism.

[jack]

Quick thoughts: It's all about quality not quantity!

Wink: I'm feeling the 70's Prog Rock vibe. Really well produced and performed. Love that guitar and tone. Carry on my wayward son.

Blind Mime: Wow this is very cool. Handclaps! It's all glitchy and yet it's got a pop hook chorus that's just Swifty. I dig the little music box filtered outro too. And nice to see you alive!

BSS: I really like the arrangement and all the little guitar riffs going on during the verses. Good energy. Early 80's punk feel. Everyone pulls off their parts well.

TIK: I've always loved your wall of sound mixes. It's like a shoegazer's anthem. Great vocals and guitars. Really dig it. You could stick this on a John Hughes teen angst 80's movie soundtrack and nobody would know any differently.

[ken]

Hey Folks,
I just submitted a late entry. I did write the song before the deadline, but I wasn't able to start tracking until last weekend and was just able to finish up tonight. I was inspired by the Song Exploder about the Flaming Lips' Do You Realize??. This may not be my most polished entry, but I like it overall. I hope you will as well.
Thanks!
Ken

[Lunkhead]

I added Ken's song to the fight.

[ken]

Thank you Sam!!

[jack]

KSDBNS: Sounds pretty good to me. Kind of compressed on the mix but you play it all well. I just feel like the dynamics might work more if everything had more room to breathe. But the song is good, I liked the bridge. Nothing to nit pick about the performance. Good job and hi Ken! You going to Hardly Strictly this year?

[ken]

Hey Jack,
Thanks for the kind review. I also really liked the bridge.

Not sure about HSB - line up isn't really calling to me yet. You?

[blindmime]

Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff - This gives me a Jonathan Richman vibe that I really like a lot. The melody is sweet. I was thinking like Jack regarding the arrangement, but having the "band" full on gives it kind of an early 90's hometaper thing which also works for me. The solo is cool too.

[blindmime]

Blind Mime Ensemble: This rules. Are the vocals the bit sampled from an old tape? There’s not a ton of epic pop around these parts, and I’m definitely here for it when it is. This is getting a vote and a download.

I sample the beginning of https://archive.org/details/bakerallen/ ... Lester.mp3. You can hear it used as a repeated riff sped up throughout the song. It's using the sound of that in the solo too. I was using Suno AI, extending sections with uploaded stuff. It's mimicking a seeded vocal fairly closely in the first verse.

[Lunkhead]

You never know when Berkeley Social Scene will pick up another win.

[jack]

I can't believe Wink got ZERO votes?! Especially when I thought I voted for him.

[Lunkhead]

I can't believe Allen is the first person to attempt to use double quotes in their band name, but I CAN believe that the site's code apparently has a lot of bugs when dealing with band names with double quotes in them.