Tell us what you think in (One Minute Reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

or take a couple of you want. We don't mind.

One minute you laugh
The next minute you're slowly sinking into something black
I get the feeling that lately nothing ever really lasts
I keep tryna get up, but I keep falling back
And you love, and you hate, and you wait
'Cause one minute goes fast

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Very fast thoughts on first listen.

Berkeley Social Scene: The doubled vox is cool. I think the right channel is overpowering the left a little but I can hear everything pretty darn well. I like the almost staccato melody leaps. I bet this one would be fun to play on stage. I looked at the lyric and those verses are cool... definitely fits the melody/vocal take. Ending was cool/weird.

Brown Word and the Big Whine: I kinda like the full on angry guitar and vocal take. The poopoo and peepee kinda took me out of it at the end. Some cool bits in the lyric, too.

Hot Pink Halo: I'm listening in alphabetic order which highlights the ballad feel coming right after Brown Word. I like your vocal, there's a tenderness to it that is both delicate and revealing, I think. The vocal layers are lush. My early on favorite.

The Mellfire Trifecta: Right off the mix is a bit more quiet than the previous entries. Not a bad thing, necessarily but... I'm too lazy to reach for the volume, I guess. I like the bass line. There's a touch of vocal flavor in the vocal... You know that old band Sugarloaf? They did Green Eyed Lady in like 69 or 71 or something. Anyway, the vocalist has a little bit of that flavor (but probably not enough to mention, come to think of it.) At any rate, this isn't bad and I broke my "rule" and had to hit repeat to see if it grew on me a bit and I think it will with more listens.

Mystic Colossus: I'm mean, it's great advice. Not sure I love the vocal effects/mix. They are a bit loud and a bit muddy/buried at the same time. Another song that I don't dislike but probably need more listens to see how I really feel about it.

Paco del Stinko: Hey, Paco! I really like the guitar solo. Someone wondered how many songs would be exactly 1:00 and you nailed it.

Pigfarmer Jr: This is not the arrangement I had in mind but it's the one I was able to complete. Is the vocal up too much? I think it is. There's a note in the verses that doesn't sound right. Drums don't sit just right, either. A song that started out about my acrophobia but ended up being about my stage fright instead. Glossary: wood & wire = acoustic guitar; the "you" is the muse or creative force or myself or whatever, referring to the times I either love to perform or literally have a heart rate over 150bpm for 45 minutes straight.

Sockpuppet: Good rhythm. Nicely layered vocals. Good arrangement, too. Feels like it moves forward nicely.

Votes going to Hot Pink Halo and Sockpuppet for sure. Will decide on the rest after more listens.

[fluffy]

I have a feeling there's going to be a bunch of 60-second songs. I suspect this fight is going to be fast to review. Let's see if that happens.

Paco del Stinko: A one-minute song that cuts off at the end rather than feeling complete. It sounds like you had fun making it, at least.

Mystic Colossus: I love the chill Casio vibes at the beginning, and that you made it a full-length song. As usual I wish you'd get a better microphone, as your voice is super muffled in this. This song is pleasant enough and I enjoy grooving to it. It gives me great early Song Fight! vibes which is especially relevant to me this week, and I think it gets a vote out of pure nostalgia as a result.

Berkeley Social Scene: As usual y'all are the well-polished powerhouse of Song Fight!. Solid tune, good production, love how Ken's doing interesting rhythmic stuff with the vocals, hey it's a BSS song. Great job, I bet you win again, y'all gotta stop doing that.

Sockpuppet: So hey like I've been tedious about, this is the 25th anniversary (more or less) of me finding Song Fight!, and so I couldn't not enter this week. I had gotten a bit of inspiration from a video about "music that sounds like a news theme song" clichés and so I decided to start out with that kind of Morse code pulse pattern (for bonus points, decode it yourself!) and started out trying to make it sound like standard news show theme music but the rhythm of it led me to take it in a different direction while doing the whole "upcoming news promo" thing. As much as I harp on others for vocal production I know this one's super weak and muddy too, but I recorded it in a hurry in a freezing recording studio late last night. The weather has been awful here, y'all.

Brown Word and the Big Whine: I wish I could hear the vocals more clearly, but this has a good energy to it. I'm not sure I'd be able to tell it apart from any of your other songs though.

(some emergency audio production work, one dinner, and some high-potency weed gummies later...)

Pigfarmer Jr: Okay this is like some sort of epic symphonic country thing that would fill stadiums given the right audience. My obligatory harp about your vocals on this is you need more bass in your voice. Right now it just feels really thin. But hey, I like this one and it gets a voooote from me.

Hot Pink Halo: Yay, Crumpet's back! This feels super cozy. I'd recognize Logic's "songwriter/coffee shop percussion" preset anywhere. I use it too. Hmm. Anyway I don't have a lot to say, just that it gets a vibes vote.

The Mellfire Trifecta: This feels like a cover of a replacement track version of Born To Be Wild as rerecorded in a karaoke booth. Wellp. I don't hate it.

Okay so there were only two people who did a 1-minute track, and one of them was me. I guess it was too obvious for everyone else. Probably for the best.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Berkeley Social Scene - Very excellent progressions with catchy vocal lines, esp. chorus. I have to catch my breath with the modern vocal effects but, geezer. yeah. Moments of pedestrian but would slay the teenage high school sitcom/movie closing credits soundtrack. Great end makes me want to make an amp howl.

Brown Word and the Big Whine - Dave Grohl has dirty underpants! Barreling freight train totally diggin' that and the howly stuff. I do enjoy your voice but not well suited for this. Me and you need good balancing act practice. Face rocked though, dig!

Hot Pink Halo - Intro makes me think Boyz to Menz are gonna love-rap. Opens up nicely at chorus time, real feels. Contemporary soft rock. There's a low frequency doing something to one of my stereo speakers, but all sounds good, layered sound nice, teeny wobble. I really enjoyed how this gently rose up to the end. Back pat.

The Mellfire Trifecta - We are all in the danger zone with Squeeze. A buddy of mine was in a band called Inscape (!) 30+ years ago, reminds me of a better that, meaning nothing to you, of course. Needs some snap in the mix but the song is controlled driving importance. This would be a jammer live, snappin' and hooked.

Mystic Colossus - Could be popcorn Christmas. Tis the season, yo-diddly-yo. Big bass. Catchy chorus through the mufflage. Two chorder with accents. Could develop more, verse or bridge work, but very pleasant and catchy.

Paco del Stinko - Since I can't count, I clipped the end as there no way this wasn't going to be exactly one minute. Drunky vocals. This is about being a Massachusetts Minute Man with your penis.

Pigfarmer Jr - Roger Waters heavy start, my goodness. Love it. Most excellent vocal delivery, patient keeps you hanging on. Melodys get better as they move on, full on by chorus. Something you'd sing along to but not independent if the listening experience. Lead section lacks impact but makes the point known.

Sockpuppet - Good times. Good idea, fill in whatever issue is of the moment, too many to choose from if it were menu-ed. Bass line is the secret hero of this by far. Rhythm track is well constructed feels more dancy than news broadcast, just sayin'. Glum but doesn't overstay.

Top three get votes

[MellyP]

Berkeley Social Scene
Really like the vocal here. Can hear it well and the lyrics are different, inventive. I like the call and response bridge but, and not a big deal, would like to hear the response vocal higher. The bass drum is a bit overwhelming for me. Otherwise, I’m loving this one. Catchy and clever arrangement with good playing. Voting.

Brown Word and the Big Whine
This one goes by quick, but it leaves a good couple of (tire) skid marks on you as it does with high energy and commitment. Good guitar playing. Is that a Zodiac related quote at the start? Impending doom is the feeling I get throughout and it’s swift and rocking.

Hot Pink Halo
I like the sparse start and very pretty vocal part. Quite touching lyrics without being saccharine. I will vote for this one. Simple and yet unique and interesting to encourage extra listens.

The Mellfire Trifecta
This is us. Worked a lot of hours on this, as I’m sure you all do on yours when time is not too short. The arrangement got changed last minute, and the bridge got completely replaced even more last minute, with new chords, instruments and lyrics. Hear the reviewer who suggested fixing the mix. Not sure I agree with how bad some said it was, but I guess reviews that are not at all constructive do help to make you stronger.

Mystic Colossus
The mic on the vocal probably needs an upgrade but I like the vocal melody and lyrics. The harmony vocal is a nice addition. Very simple chords and approach. Good job!

Paco Del Stinko,
I like that you decided it would not go over 60 seconds and yet left yourself time for a guitar solo. Surprised me with the chord choice at the word “steak” at 15 seconds! Fun stuff. I think my favourite part is the middle section (chorus). Funny cutoff at 60 sec.

Pigfarmer Jr.
This is one of your best vocal performances IMHO and this is an epic arrangement and song. I can tell you put a lot of thought and work on production. Fine guitar work. It’s serious, never maudlin, and I love the backing “ahs” in the chorus. Very nice. I’m voting yes to this song.

Sockpuppet
This one is super catchy and immediate. Simple and kept to the 1-min self-deadline. With another take or two I’m sure the couple of minor pitchy vocal sections would be ironed out. Can tell you that I hummed it for a time afterward. If that was one of your goals – congrats!

[ken]

Berkeley Social Scene
Really like the vocal here. Can hear it well and the lyrics are different, inventive. I like the call and response bridge but, and not a big deal, would like to hear the response vocal higher. The bass drum is a bit overwhelming for me. Otherwise, I’m loving this one. Catchy and clever arrangement with good playing. Voting.

Interesting. I felt like I was struggling to get that kick to cut through the mix. Can you share what you were listening on? I'm wondering if you have headphones with an enhanced bass response or anything like that. Thanks.

[MellyP]

Berkeley Social Scene
Really like the vocal here. Can hear it well and the lyrics are different, inventive. I like the call and response bridge but, and not a big deal, would like to hear the response vocal higher. The bass drum is a bit overwhelming for me. Otherwise, I’m loving this one. Catchy and clever arrangement with good playing. Voting.

Interesting. I felt like I was struggling to get that kick to cut through the mix. Can you share what you were listening on? I'm wondering if you have headphones with an enhanced bass response or anything like that. Thanks.

Yes I was using my good headphones — Sony WH-1000XM5. I put them on factory reset settings so no extra bass boost. Cheers!

[roymond]

I had an idea but no time and many sutures in my mouth, so blah. But this was a good listen!

Made me think of this album, a must-have for the art-rock crowd I hung with in the 70s/80s:


Berkeley Social Scene: I really like this vocal approach, and the harmonies work great. Also love the restrained guitar tracks, giving vocals some nice air. Edgy solo could be hotter in mix. This is catchy! Love the ending, very CTTE

Brown Word and the Big Whine: "A coward kicking dogs" indeed. Truth hurts.

Hot Pink Halo: Groovy rhythm tracks and sweet changes. Nice bridge vocals, love how they blossom. I like the rough-around-the-edges sound in this. Very intimate feeling.

The Mellfire Trifecta: Awesome, quirky pop like early XTC. Love the structure and the odd 6 beat measures. Then the bridge brings a welcome break. I like the space between drums/gtr/frantic bass. I love this tune.

Mystic Colossus: This sparkles nicely. Like how the melodic themes overlap in the first chorus. I think if the backing percussion broke out more during the chorus I'd like that contrast, texturally.

Paco del Stinko: Sweet 60 seconds of sound! Love how it cuts off...authentic! I like the sing-songy vocal style though a few more takes might prove productive. Yes, I knew at a certain point you don't have "a few more takes". Love that a guitar solo made it within the ticking! A fun minute I don't regret not wasting otherwise.

Pigfarmer Jr: Such a heavy opening. Like the bass trailing the verse vocals, but would like the chorus to have a more basic bass. The wind down to each verse ending phrase works so well. This solo is awesome but should be soaring above all else...I think of Steve Hillage here. This song is so strong.

Sockpuppet: I'll leave the morse code for later, but love the effect. Very cool, very Wichita Lineman. This is so impactful by way of its glossy understatements. Love the synth build. Wow, fluffy!

[fluffy]

For folks who want to know what the morse code rhythm spells:

Spoiler

... --- -. --. ..-. .. --. .... - -. . .-- ...

which translates to

Spoiler

SONG FIGHT NEWS

[ken]

Berkeley Social Scene:
This song came together pretty easily. I had that first intro section in my hands when the other guys showed up. We figured the rest out together. Martin actually sang the vocals first, but I couldn't figure out how to import them into my DAW, so I just redid them. I was then able to add all the harmonies over the next week. This song vaguely reminds me of Blood Buzz Ohio by the National, but I think only because they are both Am to F or something like that. The ending is using some new pedals I bought recently.

Brown Word and the Big Whine:
Love the attitude of this track right off the bat. The guitar playing is really good too. I wish I could hear the bass and drums better. Really intense for a short song. Maybe something is needed to break up the sections, give the bass and drums time to shine?

Hot Pink Halo:
I like the vibe of this track. I wish the vocals were just a little clearer or crisper. It is just a little hard to make out the words. I'm hearing some nice, chimy electric guitar that is really nice, as are the later vocal harmonies. The vocal harmonies are particularly nice. You maybe get in and out of the song too quickly. Having some instrumental sections wouldn't be bad and might give the song some needed dynamics.

The Mellfire Trifecta:
This reminds me a bit of Jerkatorium in the vocals. Something like an alternative Frank Zappa. The One Minute, One Minute Man hook is really good.

Mystic Colossus:
I like the drums and keys. The guitar melody is also good. Strong Postal Service vibes musically. Vocal harmonies are nice and help drive that hook home. I know I'm one to talk, but doing a few more vocal takes to get the lead and harmony parts to line up would have been worth it.

Paco del Stinko:
Welcome back Paco! This is classic PdS. Solid all around. You haven't lost anything being gone for so long.

Pigfarmer Jr:
This is really well done. Your voice is strong and the arrangement is solid. I like the effect on the guitar during the solo as well as the Aahs in the chorus. The lead guitar is generally very good. Get this song on the radio!

Sockpuppet:
Wow, this song is bleak. I like the electro pop vibe. I can imagine this going over well in a VR space because it sounds like of futuristic. Short and sweet. There should be a 12" remix of this as well.

[Lunkhead]

Berkeley Social Scene wins!

[Paco Del Stinko]

Congrats to the Mighty BSS!

Also: PFJr came in second, not poor old Paco.

[Lunkhead]

Oh I see. I made a typo. Glennny was trying to point that out in the BSS text thread but I didn't understand what he was implying. I'll see if it's possible to fix that. I don't know if I've edited the notes for a fight after its been archived before...

[Lunkhead]

OK, fixed now.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Eh. The numbers don't lie, but do it for Piggy, man!

[fluffy]

Yes, but Paco and I tied for sixth, and surely that's worth noting

(it totally isn't)