Beer Goggle Rock (sufficiently intoxicated reviews)

[Smalltown Mike]

No, seriously. You're the prettiest song I've ever heard.

[Reist]

So mine's in, but don't bash it too hard just because it's an instrumental ... I wrote it for a lyric that I wrote along with the title, so really it is a song based on the title ... I just failed at fitting the lyrics into the song.

[Kweep]

Chin Music - pretty interesting. i kinda feel like i'm watching one of those science films from 6th grade i likee but not enough to votee.

The Dangers - i dig this a lot. 'specially the 'come over and write your name on my arm' line... as i've got this tattoo:
It's a notepad thumbtacked to my wrist/forearm. contender

E= - i like yer singin' better than the straight rap. interesting lyrics, but it really suffers from not having a music bed.

Finding Nemoy - i like the sentiment, the lyrics and the octave singin'. not too into the noodly guitar and it could stand some rythmic accompaniment.

ICC - whoo! "did i just shit? oh no... no no no, i did..." that's funny as hell... great singin'! and great sounds as usual. contender

Jolly Roger - i kinda dig it though it does sound like what you said it would (a song that you couldn't make the lyrics fit the way you wanted so you dumped em)... you could easily have made a vocal chorus by simply singin 'i'm sufficiently intoxicated' along with the single note chorusy/flangey guitar line.

Klownhole - heavy! i love the way it's just out of tune enough to get the dissonant 'beats'. it makes me a little queazy and i dig that. it's a little too long though...

Kweep - me. drunk when i came up with the verse melody (method musician?), but not quite as drunk when i recorded it.

Funktress & Jane - first thing, the main vox are too hot in the mix... but the lyrics are awesome and the vocals on the choruses are sweet! it deffinately makee me laffee.

Max the Cat - really cool! very randy newman... great use of the theme... excellent lyrics and a friggin' whistle solo! contender.

Noah McLaughlin - pretty interesting vocals and cool use of delay on the guitar... but the mix/arrangement could use some work. the 'chuck' acoustic (during the chorus?) is too hot in the mix, the vox are a little low, the straight 8ths in the drum machine are distracting against the triplets in the guitars.

PiGPEN - cool vibe... the fake delay is pretty cool/funny. the lyrics are kinda scary... well, would be if i was a chick...

not sure who i'ma vote for yet... some good shite

[Reist]

Jolly Roger - i kinda dig it though it does sound like what you said it would (a song that you couldn't make the lyrics fit the way you wanted so you dumped em)... you could easily have made a vocal chorus by simply singin 'i'm sufficiently intoxicated' along with the single note chorusy/flangey guitar line.

I was actually considering that, but I decided against it ... I probably should have done it though. Thanks for your comments.

[bigmountainfudgecake]

Mamma the Funktress & Mary Jay Trick - This is the best song I've ever heard in my life. I'm not even going to bother reviewing the other songs. This is a work of art.

[Reist]

Mamma the Funktress & Mary Jay Trick - This is the best song I've ever heard in my life. I'm not even going to bother reviewing the other songs. This is a work of art.

I bet it's your song. Or your friend's.

[nyjm]

ill cricket crew (download)
+++ great opening sample; i love barney +++
+++ awesome guitar riff +++
+++ spoken word bridge is hilarious +++
--- it ends rather abruptly ---

kweep
--- vox are too buried in the mix ---
--- the swear words are truly expletive, that is, unnecessary ---
/// the guitar tone for the solo is pretty cool, but the melody is kind of meandering and doesn’t impart anything to the rest of the song ///

noah mclaughlin
my apprehensions:
- doubled vox are distracting, especially in the first verse; and a little quiet in the chorus
- ending solo begins too softly
- my drum programming skills are improving, but still pretty monotone

max the cat
+++ toe-tapping fun +++
+++ i like the metaphor of woman as intoxicant; it’s a little cliché, but matches the music really well +++
/// is it bad that the whistle solo brings “the elephant showâ€

[Kweep]

--- vox are too buried in the mix ---

everyone i've played it for agrees with ya. i was tryin somethin' new and it didn't work, i guess

--- the swear words are truly expletive, that is, unnecessary ---

i got pretty drunk when i was working on the melody and that's what came out... so i figured, it's a song about bein' drunk... it's how i talk/think when i'm drunk... so i'll leave it. when i re-record it, i'll prolly change em.

/// the guitar tone for the solo is pretty cool, but the melody is kind of meandering and doesn’t impart anything to the rest of the song ///

so what? i'd just finally fixed my electric guitar and felt like havin' a little 80s shred fest. it was fun (and i learned the solo and doubled it just for fun, too)

thanks for the comments and review it's my favorite part of sf!

[Smalltown Mike]

Mamma the Funktress
The talking intro sounds very forced and stagnant. I.e. it doesn’t sound you’re saying “peace out,â€

[Reist]

jolly roger
--- muddy mix ---

Jolly Roger
This mix is really, really muddy. It’s also really quiet.

So I'm not quite sure what you guys mean by muddy, but if you could elaborate, it would be awesome. As for the quietness, I'm not quite sure how to fix that and have it sound good.

P.S. I just noticed that our title things under our names changed, and now I'm pirate! I thought that was kind of funny because ... well ... you know.

[Meatwad]

Klownhole
Klownhole is the shit. But I always wish the vocals were stronger. This kind of music needs some real screaming, I think. There’s some good moments with the vocals, and I think maybe if you played up one some of the rhythmic half-rap type of stuff it might work better. Love the slow heaviness of it.

I highly recommend going back through the Song Fight archives and listening to "We Have the Technology". Probably the heaviest thing we've done. With tons of screaming.

[jeffhenderson]

So I'm not quite sure what you guys mean by muddy, but if you could elaborate, it would be awesome.

Well the opposite of muddy is crisp, clear and distinct. Muddy mixes on the other hand, sound sometimes muffled, messy, or just altogether gross. This can be caused by the following things:
1) If the mix has a lot of instruments playing notes in the same range, but you don't separate in the speakers, the result can be very muddy. Solution: tasteful panning
2) If you only record an instument with one microphone, it often won't get all of the nuances of the instrument's sound, making it sound indistinct. Also, the positioning of a mic can significantly affect the tonality of the recording.
Solution: Record with two mics
Position mics well. Generally, putting it closer to instrument fills in some of the lower end of the pitch spectrum with a kind of boomy quality, and positioning the mic further away fills in the higher end, giving a crisp clean sound. It's best to record one of each and then mix it so you get a full sound (if you have a tendency to mix muddy, never neglect the high end)

If buying two mics is out of your league, then the next best thing is doing some slight EQ. If you want to give your instrument a less muddy sound, try bringing the high end up a bit. If you are recording your amp with a mic, which I suspect you are, there are usually some EQ on the amp itself. Even better, most recording programs (even audacity) have it so you can mess with the EQ in post.

Well I hope that helps. If anybody else has some corrections, or something to add, feel free.

[Thanks For The Frisbee]

hey everyone, great fight ya'll have here.
these are my reviews. take them or leave them
Max the cat- I love the saloon style, I can see drunk cowboys breaking chairs and bottles over each others
Heads during this song . Takes talent to deliver a song like this. Its fun. I think you got what you were going for, but the style is a bit predictable. Good song though.

Jolly roger-sounds like something I would hear if I was drowning in a swimming pool at some rich jerks house while everyone else is partying hardy. Yah…that would be creepy if this was the last thing I heard as I let the water into my lungs, good instro, I know you had lyrics ,woulda been cool to hear those . Good job

Finding nemoy- where do you come from? This song is awkwardly awesome! Love the multi-vox. I really like the messiness of the guitar solo, it somehow fits with the premise of the song. The panning is really cool and whatever that little diddly diddly thing was that is good too. Really cool song .

Klownhole-not much to say about this one, heavy which is good, I think the vocal effect would have worked for the lines closest to a change, but the rest of the vox would have been better clean but like, too loud fuzzy. I don’t know anything don’t even listen to me.

Kweep-. I love the music and the voice. I like the lyrics minus most of the swearing but that again is just personal preference. You said you wanted to change that anyway so I guess my point is moot. Love the line about “ science channelâ€

[king_arthur]

Keepers: Chin Music, Ill Cricket Crew (not exactly my thing, but it works), Klownhole, Kweep, and Max. Vote Kweep...

Reasons why the non-keepers weren't (based on one listen and some scribbled notes):

Dangers: ouch on that buzz on the recording

E-Equals: insufficiently produced for me

Finding Nemoy: tuning matters to me... something I might hxaro someday, though...

Jolly Roger: instrumentals on songfight generally don't do it for me unless the connection to the title is clear and clever...

Mama: close to a keeper, but there were a lot of really good songs this week

Noah: tuning issues

PigPEN: close to a keeper, but there were a lot of really good songs this week... I think if I listened to this a bunch of times it would get stuck in my head (that's a good thing).


Klownhole generally falls into the "not my thing" zone for me, but this one grabbed me (kinda like I never really cared for sonofsupercar, but their "Red Flag" was just really really good).

I'm normally not big on profanity in songs, but Kweep's piece just seemed like it was so appropriate. Made me laugh...

KA

[melvin]

The Cricket is pretty Ill, but Kweep got my vote. Awesome guitarage and killer vocals, as always.

[j$]

“Masterâ€

[Pierre Menand]

Klownhole - heavy! i love the way it's just out of tune enough to get the dissonant 'beats'. it makes me a little queazy and i dig that. it's a little too long though...

That's actual dissonant goodness, courtesy of the flat 9. I just love that sound, and when I played the tune on the piano for my wife she said it was prettier than normal KH fare.

[Damien Verrett (Jonas)]

Max the Cat – this sounds like the music that some old time musical hall grandad would play, then stagger into the wedding audience and make an inappropriate approach to some young relative. Seriously creepy, and not in a good way.

Oh jesus... picturing this has made me laugh like nothing else today.

Seriously... just the idea of some old guy sauntering up to this 12 year old with this music playing and making a move on her.

But aside from that, nice song. It made me smile :]

[Clats]

I would only think it fair that i review these songs...you guessed it...a tad loaded...I will rate these songs on a 2 scale

PiGPEN
Kinda like the quirky repetition-tion...and your rhyming schemes are clever-ver. I could groove on this for a while. 2

Jolly Roger
Started out great...no need to worry about lyrics as you previously mentioned. The song carries itself. A little B52's-ish. I think the back end of the song doesn't match the energy of the front...seems like you got lazy and let things peter out...me likey. 2
Klownhole
Oh, Klownhole...you're the Tabasco in my Mini-Wheats. 1
Chin Music
Damn...were you my grade 11 English teacher...love the writing. As a baseball player and pitcher, I love the name of the band. fun to listen to.

Noah McLaughlin
Vocals a little forced it seems to me. The bg vox are distracting - maybe because they are so muddy and way off time...if it was intentional - it didn't work. 0

Kweep
Another great entry. Not your best vocal and lyrical effort though but i really enjoyed the geetar and bass groove. No offense...but this could be the theme song to a new hit t.v. show. 2

Finding Nemoy (great name btw)
"I swear you can sleep through a violent storm or a Howitzer"...kick ass. Song itself needs to go somewhere - it just sits there a while...I dunno, wish i could offer more help but the vox dont grab me to want to keep listening. 1

Mama et. al.
writing = mildly clever & fairly humorous
performance = very strained...if your having fun with the song, have fun...don't read from a piece of paper. 0

E Equals
Is someone upstairs trying to sleep and they bang on the floor when you get above 3 decibals? This is a song that has great wrining that needs to be belted out girl...but alas. 0

The Dangers
love it. very 70's punk-ass. ends just right. 2

Max the Cat
This is reet-petite Daddy-O...I don't think I've ever enjoyed a song as much on Song Fight as this. Phenomenal voice. This song would be perfect in the movie Bugsy Malone with Scott Baio and jodie Foster ...a little abrupt ending - would have liked something with a bit more umph but this gets my vote. 2

Ill Cricket, Pleeeease
Drunk Todd laid down about 15 ridiculous lines that were not suitable for human consumption. The evening we recorded this has become a liquid brown haze...

[PiGPEN]

cool vibe... the fake delay is pretty cool/funny. the lyrics are kinda scary... well, would be if i was a chick...

Any chick that would be scared of this wouldnt be a girl id want to be with...sense of humor wins.

did you get a girl drunk and play G.I. Joes on her? Weird right…am I right? Not that weird is bad.

Yup thats the story. Not the first time ive done this type of song. I like the subject of getting a girl drunk and doing something to her because that was the basic subject of alot of rap i grew up on....although Bad Boys were alot tamer.

Kinda like the quirky repetition-tion...and your rhyming schemes are clever-ver. I could groove on this for a while.

I heard Kanye West do the fake delay thing a few times, im not all that into Kanye but i loved the fake delay thing, so i had to try it out...works well.

[max the cat]

Jolly roger Interesting, mix feels to polite for the genre, It may be intentional but I don’t think it works. Drums need to pop. The guitar sometimes feels out of the pocket.

Mama the Funktress and Mary Jane Trick Delightfully wanky, estrogen packed macho boob ya, rhyme a little pointless but I guess that’s the point

Finding Nemoy deconstruced guitar music is not my favorite genre. I’m beginning to lose patience with deliberate crap. I’m beginning to think it’s a cop out but, as deconstructed guitar songs go it’s one of the best I’ve heard.

The Ill Cricket Crew Ah something actually well done. Great lyric, great delivery I thought the guitar got a little monochromatic. The song never quite takes off the way It might but a breath of fresh air for these tired ears.

The Dangers Perfect anthem for the Duke lacrosse team. I can see a strippers flying spread eagled into the greasy mosh pit in Danger’s garage..

Max The Cat I once cooked one noodle , wrapped it in tin foil and buried it in my back yard in a shoe box. I wanted to do something that nobody had ever done. I found that was’t enough. Artistic expression needs to work on some level. It should work without explanation, just work.
Define work. I can’t. That’s what makes art art. Something can be totally different and not work or it can be derivative and work. Some things just work, some just don’t. Trying to be different isn’t the bottom line of great art, Digging into ones soul for truth is where I believe art starts. That is not easy and all artists fail more than they’d like. What works? I don’t know. All I know is trying to be different doesn’t.
Noah McLaughlin Everything is wrong with this song yet I like it. Too much dobro the second vocal is too grunged for my taste but the mood and strangeness create a “Waitsianâ€

[furrypedro]

there was some interesting stuff tucked away here

I loved the name 'Chin Music', the tune was interesting and well delivered but I didn't really enjoy it that much. Finding Nemoy was another good name, and I liked this but I was easily distracted while listening to it. Kweeps was the one that grabbed me most on 1st listen, it had its faults but I'll probably vote for that. There were a few things I liked about Klownholes effort this week, it was more full on and that guitar sound was good. E Equals is gradually getting more listenable; I look forward to a tune with accompaniment from her. can't remember Max's, didn't grab me though. I got into Refused yesterday so the Dangers catered adequately for my desire to rock but it's not progressive enough for me, good sound though. Jolly Roger was the opposite by comparison, good structure but way too lo-fi for the style (in my book that makes it better than the Dangers so well done). PiGPEN and the ICC did okay in there own ways, I think it's another choice between style and fidelity between those two but I'd probably go with the better production there. Mamma funktress + was one of the most entertaining songs this fight and Noah delivered one of his better efforts, I didn't mind your voice so much here, but also the instrumentation, arrangement and structure made this track really interesting listening. I love the tempo change, good drumming and good guitar playing.


it's between Kweep, Jolly Roger, and Noah for me.
good stuff people