WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME?!?? (Run And Don't Look Back reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Just kidding! Reviews are not only accepted, they are wanted and encouraged!

If it's love that you're running from, there's no hiding place.
(You can't run it, you can't hide it, you can't run it)
Love has problems I know but there problems, we'll just have to face.
Oh yeah, yeah.

If you just put your hand in mine,
We're gonna leave all our troubles behind.
We're gonna walk and don't look back. (Don't look back)
And don't look back. Oh yeah, yeah.
And don't look back, baby. (Don't look back)

Lyric thread: viewtopic.php?t=12991

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[Siebass]

Man this is a tough crop of songs; lot of good stuff here. I've done two listens through so far and plan to do some reviews after another listen, but my favorite so far is the punky track by dead ambassadors (who I assume is PigFarmer), then Future boy and BSS, but I enjoyed most of these.

[TLSC]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Dead Ambassadors track. Super Sex Pistols Vibe and earned a second listen!

[BoffoYux]

It's time for a new SongFight Listening Party!
I'll host the current SF 'Run and Don't Look Back' on Monday 2/16 at 8:00 pm EST.

Drop in and chat with the artists!

[Siebass]

Alright, here are your Siebass 100% biased reviews:

Berkeley Social Scene:

This was one of my top three this time, probably because of the surprise in it; I enjoyed the vocal octave leaps in glennny's vocals; kind of like right at the edge of breakup guitar, hitting the vocal range right at the edge of vocal breakup/flip to falsetto. Straight ahead guitar and drums, whispered backing vocals are nice, serious as a heart attack was nice, signature glennny slide guitar solo; favorite parts though were the surprise in the post chorus, going from what I think is the 2 to the 3 before going back to the one, that really makes this track for me; unexpected but satisfying.

Dead Ambassadors:

Similar to the BSS track, this one takes it for me with the surprise. First off, super, duper hooky in the punk guitar pattern with the 1, 3-4-3, coming back over and over again, really nice, keeps me engaged and listening throughout the song. Second, on the it's a hell hole line, I was hoping it didn't go 4 times, and it doesn't! It stops right at 3 repetitions, which is great, and also structurally engaging. Next, the post chorus bit stops and goes back to a build up, another really satisfying surprise, and extra nice because the second time it happens I was ready for it, but still very satisfying musical surprise. Only two nits I have to pick with this one was the jumpy auto tune-style effect on the vocal leading into the third verse portion; I didn't think it worked and was a bit distracting both on the vocal and on the lead guitar kind of noodling around on the back half of the song. These were minor nits on a bomb song; this rocks.

Future Boy:

I am torn on my feedback on this one; the vocals are pristine and well executed, the lyrics are clever with some nice turns of phrase, some self reflective and introspective bits to it. It was mastered very loud, especially relative to all of the other entries, and perhaps that's why I particularly loathe the cheesey VST choices for the first 3/4 of the song. The production, arrangement, and lyrics are all very good, so I imagine it was a conscious choice to go FULL CHEESE with instruments, but the bass and hi hat particularly grate on me after not that long into the song. The breakdown into the different style works well for the coda to the song. I will say I was with the singer on their journey of self-reflective fleeing right until they changed from something I found relatable, to a f$ck boy not getting any sleep chasing massive pleasuring of their cock. Clever lines about the only tail chasing being my own and breaking all my bones, or the foreshadowing of the change of fantasy to sanity in the chorus were not enough to pull me back up to enjoyment on this one. 

Due to solid production, performance, and clever lyrics, I'm not really sure how this song will shake out. I can imagine this song winning by a landslide, or being fairly divisive. I personally really did not enjoy the tonal shift in what was a song I otherwise largely enjoyed; I don't want to be listening or thinking about some f#ckboy's cock when I listen near my family (kids 6 and 8), or in general. YMMV, and this is just my opinion; as always, it'll be interesting to see if it's a "just me" thing, which many times, it is.

JEB:

15 seconds of dead air at the start of the track could use to be trimmed; I kept thinking I was done listening to songs while I listened to these in my car. The vocal is buried so far it's hard to hear at times; even just bringing up the level separate from any other tweaks would help this mix out, I think. The vocal is very pitchy at times, enough to be distracting, particularly on the "run and don't look back", "Instead", "wanted out"; it almost to my ear sounds like the singer was not sure what notes they wanted to hit before aiming at the notes; perhaps a few more takes with more certainty in the melody that they wanted to achieve would have been useful, that or if those notes are strainers to hit, maybe lowering the song a half step or two would be worthwhile, no one can stop us from changing the key on our own songs. I really wanted to hear more confidence in the vocal.

The lyrics seem very personal and reflective, and seem important to the singer. They weren't something that I found I personally could get into, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them, they just didn't click for me. I'm not sure if the strings were guitar, mandolin, or ukulele, but they sounded a bit thin; perhaps some eq or closer micing might help round out that sound, I think it would have helped too.

The Lonely Socks Club:

This mix was also quiet relative to some of the others. I'm not usually a fan of vocal doubling unless it's pretty tight (like Dave Grohl tight), but it works well here since the pitching and timing are very close. Guitars, claps, drums and bass are all locked in; the singing sounds a bit quiet relative to the others, and the bass relative to the guitars too could probably come up. The bass is playing something cool, but hard to pick out. I enjoyed the lyric "say whatever they want, you were never theirs". Chorus "runs" and layered harmonies are sweet, horn swells are nice. Short, sweet, gets in and gets out. Nice one.

Separate from everything else, I'm 90% sure the LSC had the most fun making their entry this week, and that should be worth something.

The Mellfire Trifecta:

Some nice arpeggiated acoustic guitar to kick this off, then split to stereo. The string swells are nice; vocal harmonies really excellent in the choruses. I wish for a slightly more confident vocal maybe just in verse 1, as the singer really hits the stride later. The run run runs part are great. Again the vocal layering and harmonies are excellent. Real violin? I can't tell, if not, programmed well enough to fool me and it sounds great. This song is one of the only ones of this round that has grown on me after repeated listens, so take that as praise.

Lyrically digging into what sounds like mental illness/spectrum type stuff where social cues are missed, brain is misfiring, darker stuff, but I think it works well. I particularly enjoyed the progression on this song as something engaging and different from what I usually listen to.

Mystic Colossus:

Structurally I liked the lyrics on this one a lot, how it sets up the opposition between the You and the Me in the song; with the town vs city killing each respectively, I think that works very well. Here, the vocal doubling is less tight and less sure, and I'm not sure it works. There is somewhat hard pitch correction on the backing vocals which I think is excellent and works well to make those sit nicely in the song; I think similar care to the verse vocals OR potentially not doing a double in the verses might lift the song up a few notches. Having tight timing and enunciation can be pretty critical on vocal doubles, otherwise it can make it hard to understand what you are singing, and I think this song suffers a little bit on this front. I thought the electronic instrumentation worked well for the song, and I liked the little synth lead melody line that pops up in a few places.

Lyrically another personal song, and I didn't personally connect too much one way or the other with the lyrics, but they were just fine to me. On the whole I liked this song and I think it's pretty well done, I think some more care to the verse vocals would have made it better for me.

Siebass: 

This is me. With the call out for more submissions and only 2 nights to work on this, I went for what I thought was the easy out and the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. I rarely do the wikipedia-songs, but I guess this was my week. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_and_Eurydice

High level myth (for which there are some variations) is Orpheus's lover Eurydice dies early and a bit tragically. Orpheus is a well-renowned musician, and he convinces the gods through his music and charisma to allow him into the Underworld; he makes a deal with Hades that he can bring Eurydice back to life if he can safely escort her out of the underworld where 1. she will walk behind him but he cannot hear her footsteps 2. he cannot look back even once or she'll be stuck in the underworld forever. This song is written from Orpheus' perspective, partway through the journey back to the surface. What the listener knows, and Orpheus does not, is that he will lose his faith right before the exit back to the mortal world, and lose his love forever due to his lack of faith. In his hubris, he thinks the challenge will be easy for a patient man such as himself.

I would say I really like the music I came up with on this, with funky bassline, wah guitar, and some disco-ish drums for a bit of a dancy momentum up through the underworld. I think I did a good job on the vocal, but as always could have enunciated better in parts. Sliding vocals (glissando?) are not everyone's cup of tea, but as I started and ended cleanly on the right notes for these I thought it worked pretty well. I also could have spent more time on the lyrics (as almost always), but with two nights of 2-4 hours each to work on it, I thought they were good enough; I think I told the story cleanly, clearly, and with enough to lay a little groundwork for the failure to come, if you know about Orpheus. Hopefully even if you don't the music was hooky enough to get you tapping your feet or bobbing your head.


My guess is this round is probably going to dead ambassadors, BSS, or Future Boy, and I'll probably be in the middle with this entry, but only time will tell!

[Future Boy]

Great fight everyone! Most are my comments are about mixing because I think there is concrete advice to give there, whereas songwriting / performance is so often informed by taste and practice. I don't think anyone wants to hear "get good at singing"? But, also, I've not reviewed a fight in years, so not sure what the vibe is lately. Would love to hear what folks want feedback on!

Berkeley Social Scene: Love the energy on this one and the clarity of the vocals. I have nitpicks with the mix, but those might come down to taste and the headphones I'm listening on:
* drums sound thin, want more punch
* same with bass, seems to be missing low end and punch
* guitars sound too loud to me. they could probably come down in the mix because they are hard-panned and won't fight with drum & bass.

Dead Ambassadors: well-balanced mix, nails the genre (tho this isn't a genre I listen too much). good topical lyrics. not much to critique here!

Future Boy: I think I agree with Siebass that this is mastered a bit too loud. I ran it through Ozone 10 and left it at defaults, so it was around -11 LUFS and could probably stand to get pulled down to -14. The casio sounds too loud in these headphones. I nerfed the high end on the casio, but it's still pretty hot. I want warmer/louder Rhodes around the sides. Maybe the vocal is even a little too hot?

JEB: I like the song, but could barely make out the lyrics when listening on monitors. They are easier to hear on headphones. Part of the issue is too much volume variance in the vocals, possibly from poor mic technique? A compressor will help here. It's also essentially a mono mix, so even pulling the guitars off the to the side might be enough to make the vocals come thru without needing volume adjustment.

The Lonely Socks Club: Love the guitar tone in the intro and then the drums come in and there is _way_ too much low end in that kick. It sounds like a "whump" on my headphones and not in a good way. On larger speaks this likely overwhelms the mix. Aside from that everything is balanced pretty well. I have to search for the bass a little more than I'd like. I'd try swapping the relative levels of kick drum and bass. Like bass pretty in my face with kick more in the background, but maybe ducking the bass to punch thru a little bit? Overall good vibe, though!

The Mellfire Trifecta: Loved the panned guitars after the solo guitar intro, vocals come thru crystal clear. Lyrics and chord progression are both compelling with surprises here and there. Tasteful use of strings, good backing vox near the end of the song. Song could maybe use bass and/or keys to fill out the arrangement, but that may be mostly a matter of taste.

Mystic Colossus: As one of the few synth-based musicians on here, I immediately appreciate the intro. Vocals on this track have the opposite problem of others: they are too loud and need processing (EQ, reverb) to blend with the synths better. On these headphones could use more oomph for the kick drum. Synth bass dominates and all I'm really hearing from the drums is snare and hat.

Siebass: Yessss very good bass/drum groove at the outset. Maybe a little wetter on the reverb than I'd like? I dunno, probably fine. Good, clear vocals, love that you're doing a take on the Greek myth. Pre-chorus / Chorus works really well, very catchy. I think timing on drums / rhythm guitar could be tighter for more impact. And I'm not sure how much the constantly noodling solo guitar is adding. It's far enough back that I don't really mind that it's there, it kind of becomes texture, but then when I focus my attention on it, I'm kind of like "take a break for a bit dude." So maybe you could try pulling it out on some of the verses, or going more sparse until the final chorus/bridge section.

I think top three for me (excluding my own) are: Siebass, The Mellfire Trifecta, and The Lonely Socks Club

[Siebass]

And I'm not sure how much the constantly noodling solo guitar is adding. It's far enough back that I don't really mind that it's there, it kind of becomes texture, but then when I focus my attention on it, I'm kind of like "take a break for a bit dude." So maybe you could try pulling it out on some of the verses, or going more sparse until the final chorus/bridge section.

Guilty as charged on the soloing and a fair critique; I started writing songs in 2017, but it was 2021-2022 before I felt like I could actually do guitar solos, and ever since then, I think I tend to overdo it on the lead guitar because it's fun on the playing side, but I forget to think about whether it's useful/necessary on the listening side. Also for better or worse, I tend to aim to write shorter songs, so that usually means no solo or soloing over the final chorus, which is a different space than an empty verse3/chorus combo to solo over. I'm still evolving more towards playing lead lines/riffs rather than just self-indulgent noodling, so this is a good reminder for me to cut it out, lol. Thanks for the reviews!

[MellyP]

Feel free to ignore my alternate band names – some inspired by the other reviews. Keeping myself amused as I go. I really enjoyed this round of songs!

F-boy (Future Boy)
I like the vocal melody and the chord changes are engaging. The instrumentation, intentionally or not, is a bit fromage and takes me out of it somewhat. That’s just me, maybe. But there’s much to like and compliment too. The clarity you have achieved in your mix is fantastic. I can hear every word, sound and instrument easily. The playing is good too. Finally, I really like how the slower outro eases you out of the song and gently tucks you into your bed for the night.

Lifeless Diplomats (Dead Ambassadors)
This is super catchy and well sung – with the right amount of attitude. Short, sharp, and smokin’. The guitar playing is really good. Well, it all is. I agree with you on the length of the song. Get in, hit hard, and get out.

Jebediah (JEB)
I like the chord structure on this song. I wanted some change up in the instrumentation between parts so I could tell them apart more – and a bit more confident, in-tune vocal, but it is pleasant. Mix-wise it needs work but that can be done if you work on this on again further beyond the fight.

Muffed Trifle (Mellfire Trifecta)
This one took a long time. I used my Abbey Road strings software that I got for Xmas last year (midi sounds of instruments you hear on Eleanor Rigby) specifically with combinations of violin/viola/cello/bass, viola/cello and violin/bass. I play each of the parts of course, harmonizing them with each other etc., but then to them make them sound more realistic gotta put in even more hours after that. Boo hoo, poor me ... I have an awful lot of fun doing it.

Cam Neeley (Siebass)
I like this choice to write about Orpheus and Eurydice – didn’t know the myth/lore. It works well. This song moves along smoothly. I really like the pauses between “just” and “run” in the choruses. I guess you could add percussion with the run-up to the “run” to accentuate that. Just a suggestion. Works without too. I like the harmonies. Very interesting arrangement.

Catalina Wine Mixer (Berkeley Social Scene)
I might like a quick intro to start this song as it feels slightly abrupt, but it’s a nice melody and the playing is great. Chorus is really strong. Mix is very good. This grows on me upon repeated listens and features a super vocal.

Unexplained Size (Mystic Colossus)
Getting an Erasure type feel at the start. I think the singer’s voice is pretty nice but sounds a bit like a group unison vocal. Good harmony vocals though. When the synth solos come in it’s very effective, but then I get a bit more simple solos than hoped for. Really good line about the city at the end.

Lost laundry Support Group (The Lonely Socks Club)
Catchy guitar part. The kick drum is kicking my ass quite a bit too hard and I think the vocals are awash in reverb. Despite these two things I really love this chorus, the tasteful claps, and the arrangement. The harmony vocals in verse 2 work very well and in the chorus. Nice sustained horns. Good job!

[Lunkhead]

The results are in and the fight has been won by ... The Lonely Socks Club

[MellyP]

Dear me, that's a lot of votes for one entry from one region. Kind of disorienting. Good fight all.