The Song Fight Bulletin Board

You all made the front page. Yay!

Hm, for some reason the Angry No0b song doesn't work for me in Chrome when I get it from songfight.org. When I load the local file it plays file in Chrome, and it plays fine in Firefox. Not sure what's up with that. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know.

Also, inflatable vegetables, your submission email did not have any attachments, so we didn't get your song.

EDIT: I'm having the same issue with the Sunday Guts song as with the Angry No0b song. Maybe it's just me, but if anybody is having trouble with those songs let me know.

They both work fine for me (if we ignore production issues ), in Chrome and in Firefox.

They all work fine for me. I use firefox and I open them one at a time from the "whatever you call it" page with the album art. I prefer doing it that way. But I did notice a couple of the songs, like the BSS song and the first (jb?) song is longer than the time bar thingy muh-bob. As in, the song reaches the end of the bar, but the song isn't over yet.

This is why I just download everything. That cuts down on complications and allows for multiple listens at my leisure without clogging up the interwebs.

Lunkhead wrote:Also, inflatable vegetables, your submission email did not have any attachments, so we didn't get your song.

Argh. So I guess it's the inf-LATE-able vegetables this week, then. Re-sent it.

I HEART the cover art!! Good job!!

Hey Nur Ein motherfuckers, there's a fight goin' on over here!

Sunday Guts: Man, that is some pretty precise vocal doubling and harmonies! Perhaps a bit more polish could be applied to the lyrics, to make sure they are as visceral and interesting as possible. Some of them feel like first-drafty kind of, so they ramble maybe a bit too much. Easy problem to have with a song fight song. I’m listening on my Macbook speakers, and will just point out that the vocals are a little too far front on these speakers. But well done!

Astrolamb: You are not Mike. Ok, it’s a pastiche sort of, right? I’m not super keen on the lyrics, they feel like “I gotta have words so here’s some”. I like the musical ideas that you’ve got going on here. I like what’s happening at 2:36. I think you could make a whole song out of that. Wish you had a more real-sounding horn patch.

Johndisk0: Ok it’s spoken, so you better bring the interesting… well, I listened to the whole thing. I kind of wish it were more full of compelling imagery and less concerned with rhyming. I think the Shaq/Obama line was clever but totally disagree with it in every way. Like you said, the bass player was really good.

Jerkatorium: Clever, in-the-know lyrics that use Reddit and internet behaviors to describe a relationship, I am enjoying them very much! I like the “Ba ba ba bababa” parts. I don’t like the first line of the backing harmonies on “Deep subreeeddit”. The harmony clashes for me. Lead vox are too far front on my Macbook speakers. Nice try on the second guitar solo, might’ve need another take to really nail it— I think it’s the kind of solo that you can’t leave sloppy. Dudes, this is good! My favorite of the fight.

Lunkhead: Dustin’ off the Series of Tubes ref eh? “You will regret everything you say” is probably the truest thing anybody ever said about Reddit. I love the melodies and harmonies you’ve got going on. I really like the jumbledy part starting at 1:52. I like the synth bass and the synth parts in general, and wish the guitars didn’t overwhelm them quite so much. I can’t WAIT to hear this live.

R. Mosquito: Roooock. It’s 9:00 in the morning, so I don’t think I’m quite where I need to be to enjoy this. HOWEVER, when I get there, I think I’m really going to enjoy it. DEEEP! DEEEEP! DEEEP! ABANDON!

Berkeley Social Scene: I like the vox at like 1:35, because it sounds really into it. I wish the vocals weren’t quite as dry overall since the guitars are nice and washy and there’s room ambience on the drums. I think the dryness may sap some of the energy in them. I like the music, probably could have used another clever line or two in the lyrics to help propel the song. I like the guitar sound for sure, sounds very analog and warm but rock n’ roll.

Billy and the Psychotics: I kind of want an annotated lyric sheet with links to the subreddits you found for that list in the middle. “You’re the king and I don’t get it.”

Angry No Ob: Most interesting lyrics so far. I admire that you put links in your lyrics post, maybe they could’ve been a little deeper in but oh well. Hard to get the story from the production, so I’m glad you posted the lyrics because now the song’s more interesting when I listen to it. But you said you were gonna “post that shit in Monkey Biz” BUT I LOOKED AND THERE’S NOTHING THERE. fuckin' tease.

Abjure!: My wife said this is the most inside-baseball thing I’ve ever done. It’s one of those things where you do something almost impossible for anybody else to understand even if they could be bothered to care, and then you sit around wondering why nobody recognizes your genius. Come to think of it, I should’ve just posted it on Reddit instead, so it would be in good company with all the rest of the unloved OC.

Inflatable Vegetables: Heh, first reference to The Button. This is like from a 60's movie or something. LOOOOVE the backing singers. Probably the most "hooky" song of the fight. Maybe add some bass to round out the mix?

I can't quite get all the reviews done in one sitting, so I'll edit this post with more as I listen more.

Sunday Guts: Bobbing my head on the first verse, 'collections and hobbies' makes me mile, but for some reason the timing on 'scholar or apprentice' line is awkward. Then the chorus kicks in, and the 'yeahhhhhh' vocal is so good, feels like sunshine on my face. But I'm not ready for it, so some of that awkward timing from the last line carries over, maybe a pause before the chorus would have made it better. I love, the way you run down weird subreddits. 'Canadian e-cigarette elitist' is probably my favorite line from the entire fight. The bridge sounds really good, that 'you may think you're diff-er-ent' line is perfect, and fading after the bridge just feels right. The more I listen to this song, the more I like it. I don't even notice the timing I complained about earlier now. Voted!

Astrolamb: I initially liked your 'Deep Dub Reddit' style at the beginning, and was digging it, but around the 50 second mark it started to wear out its welcome, and by the 'why does everybody got to lie to me' vocal I was pretty uncomfortable. Things got better at around the two minute mark as some melodic bits came in, and then my ears picked up at the 'I don't ever want to see you again' line, and I liked the sneering 'you're onliiiiiine' bit. Ultimately it didn't work for me musically, no vote.

Johndisk0: I liked a lot of what you had to say, and I'm jealous of your rhymes, but I didn't like the way you said it. I think it would have helped a lot if you varied your delivery speed and rhythm. Some pauses after especially good lines to give some space to the bass player would have helped too. Also I think it came across that you knew you were being clever, which hurt it a bit. Close, but no vote.

Jerkatorium: I won't naval gaze too much here, but my impressions after listening to again is that the vocals are too loud, there is distortion in spots, but ultimately it's a dorky pop song about Reddit, and I'm happy with it. Voted, because I want to win.

Lunkhead: The chorus is sublime. It conveys a kind of resigned sad feeling that resonates with me, and it delivers that 'music as drug' feeling to my central nervous system. The strength of the chorus alone is why this is my favorite song of the fight. The high synth line immediately following the first chorus is slightly sour and is a bit of a letdown. On the second chorus the instrument that sounds like glockenspiel is a great contrast to the deeper driving synthy guitar sound. The 'it isn't all bad' bridge has a very 80s sound to it which makes me feel a bit 'meh' but it's so satisfying when that chorus comes back in and pushes it all away. Enthusiastically voted.

R. Mosquito: Emo Hardcore!? I'm so in. Outside the SUB, SUBHUMAN. That part where I expect you to say "This sub is dead" and you go back to a final DEEP, ABANDON. All available asses were kicked. I didn't expect to have a NOMEANSNO kinda moment here. You left me wanting more, voted.

Berkeley Social Scene: I really should love this song, but I don't. The right/left fuzz guitar attack totally does it for me, and the singer has that cool imperfect-and-i-don't-care style that really shines when he goes for broke on the satisfying 'vote it up / vote it down' hook. The problem is that some of the lyrics grate on me. The 'sub sub sub love sub reddit' bit strikes me as filler, but more than that, the word 'love' just really bugs me in that context for some reason. Also the line 'High IQ keeps it locked' bothers me in the same way that people who think they're smart bother me. In the bridge, the singer is in anguish, he hates this thing he's discovered, because .. it's just the worst? ... "the format yeah"!? The banality of the complaint juxtaposed against the tension of bridge is what hurts the most here. Close, but no vote.

Billy and the Psychotics: Dig the bounce back guitar sound in the intro, the first 'shadowlands' backup vocal catches you by surprise and is over-the-top in a good way. The intertwined female-main/male-backup vocals are one of the best things about this song. The 'in your head, in your bed, it don't exist, none of it' line is my favorite. The way the main singer trails and trills some of her lines like "It's just internet ...." really adds nice texture. The Pixiesesque guitar at 1:45 is rad. The bridge goes on too long, 'The Walrus is Dead' and 'Elvis Lives' lines clunk. Voted!

Angry No0b: The blues/rap blend I can totally get with, also I really liked some of the self referential lyrics (this ain't Can't-We-Get-Along Fight!). I also liked how you used crowd noises at 1:10 during the interlude / guitar solo bit, which I assume references the noise and yelling of Reddit comment threads. Smart. Unfortunately some of that noise remained in my left ear at 1:45 and drowned out some of your better rhymes. The ending is great. WHAT IN THE FUCK. Voted.

Abjure!: I didn't get this song the first few times I listened to it. I just thought Frontalot's verses were just dropped in like a kind of lyrical lorem ipsum to fill the space around a catchy chorus. It was easy to make a snap judgement, this ain't a cover fight. JB mentioned that this song might be hard to understand, so I figured I owed him more listens. I'm not sure I get it now, but I think I get more of it. The Fontalot verses are changed slightly to shift the context from meatspace to cyberspace. The melancholy tune and singing also helps drive home the shift from nerd braggadocio to nerd pathos. The chorus uses musical quotation (this ain't no party, this ain't no disco) instead of musical appropriation like in the verses, which made me think about the differences. Both approaches have a long history in music and the arts. I learned that JB was a contestant in the original Yellow Lasers fight, which added a certain dimension to the song for me. It's an interesting song, but ultimately it doesn't earn a vote from me due to the heavy handedness of the lyrical recontextualizing, and that the new context isn't different enough from the original to say something fresh.

Inflatable Vegetables: Some sweet lyrics here, and they go really well with your groove. "You want to philosophize, big words so you sound wise, hollow and void but you try ... to be deep deep baby." Good stuff, and the backup singers are a nice touch. I'm glad you put a reference to the button in the song. I didn't know anything about it before I heard this, and it's delightfully weird. The transition from '30 seconds' to 'deep deep baby' seems abrupt, and takes me out of the song for a sec. This song is not in a style I really enjoy, but I have to give you credit for excellent songwriting. Voted.

jb wrote:
Angry No Ob:...But you said you were gonna “post that shit in Monkey Biz” BUT I LOOKED AND THERE’S NOTHING THERE. fuckin' tease.

I totally did post that shit in Monkey Biz! Shortly afterward, the number of readers of the subreddit in question reached a critical point that caused an eldritch vortex to open, unleashing a horde of unpleasant entities who immediately restructured all living humans into a wretched parody of their disturbing but undying form. After millennia of brutal oppression, our extradimensional overlords must've gotten bored: they devoured the planet, the galaxy, and the observable universe. Our entire reality branched off into eighth-dimensional phase space and collapsed back into this lower-dimensional reality where the subreddit that started it all is merely a fictional product of some no0b's imagination.

Most of us have no memory of those wicked times. To those who do, I say Iä! Iä! M'glwaf phn'reddit pglnucth feng shui!

I'll do some reviews though, promise.

user wrote:I totally did post that shit in Monkey Biz! Shortly afterward, the number of readers of the subreddit in question reached a critical point that caused an eldritch vortex to open, unleashing a horde of unpleasant entities who immediately restructured all living humans into a wretched parody of their disturbing but undying form. After millennia of brutal oppression, our extradimensional overlords must've gotten bored: they devoured the planet, the galaxy, and the observable universe. Our entire reality branched off into eighth-dimensional phase space and collapsed back into this lower-dimensional reality where the subreddit that started it all is merely a fictional product of some no0b's imagination.

That sounds like Randal reading a Kevin Smith script in the next Clerks movie.

Berkeley Social Scene: I really should love this song, but I don't. The right/left fuzz guitar attack totally does it for me, and the singer has that cool imperfect-and-i-don't-care style that really shines when he goes for broke on the satisfying 'vote it up / vote it down' hook. The problem is that some of the lyrics grate on me. The 'sub sub sub love sub reddit' bit strikes me as filler, but more than that, the word 'love' just really bugs me in that context for some reason. Also the line 'High IQ keeps it locked' bothers me in the same way that people who think they're smart bother me. In the bridge, the singer is in anguish, he hastes this thing he's discovered, because .. it's just the worst? ... "the format yeah"!? The banality of the complaint juxtaposed against the tension of bridge is what hurts the most here. Close, but no vote.

Hey thanks for the review! That's one of the more articulate and well written reviews! You make good points! I didn't write the lyrics, nor did I sing them, but they don't bother me like they bother you. I agree that Martin is an awesome singer and he brings the passion to his vocal performances!

Abjure! This is so funny! [I keep getting interrupted, and don't have a chance to finish listening to it. Ok finished] Not usually a fan of g&g but I liked this.
Angry No0b Like the intro vibe, and guitars. So much going on, chaotic and hard to listen to. Esp when it was the crowd in L ear, main vox in center and low pitched clip in R. Lost me.
Astrolamb Fun with samples and vocording! Like the ambient noise behind your verses @ 1:00ish Like synths at 2:00. And then the song changes again. It's like you had 8 different song ideas, but weren't sure which one to go for, so you went with all 8 of them.
BSS At the beginning the L guitar seemed a bit loud, and voice too soft. Like your guitars, as always.
Billy & the Psychotics Nice intro groove, Den's voice. Really enjoyed the BGVs in verse 2. Whee-oo. Guitar in chorus 2 was fun, but a bit distracting. Bridge...lizard people! Silly fun!
[me]
Jerkatorium Happy melody. I liked this!
John Disk0 You did exactly what you said you were going to do. I think you needed a sax or trumpet [or some other instrument] to throw in some stabs, help break up the flow, emphasize certain phrases and add some melodic ideas.
Lunkhead Funny lyrics. Totally into this rhythm. I like the different synth textures you had. Great melody. Bridge - enjoyed it!
R Mosquito Short. Well done.
Sunday Guts Shift at chorus totally caught me by surprise in a good way. I like this. "You may think you're different, but somebody out there wants to talk about the same thing."

Amazing how many times I could be interrupted in the midst of ONE song. For Abjure!, I think it was like 5 times, by 5 different people.

Lunkhead. Very nice song, great lyrics and the bell thingy was a nice surprise !!! #1 vote

Billy and the Psychotics. Got a soft spot for the ladies...but, besides that, this is a fun listen. There is nothing I don't like about this song.....but, Lunk's is better imho... # 2 vote

Abjure Since I'm a G&G guy, how could I not like this......but, tooooo long. Most of the songs I write are about 4/5 mins initially, then I get out the ax....after that, I'm more satisfied. # 3 vote

(inflatable veges- very close 3)

no more time....gotta run, good job everyone. all the songs were an enjoyable listen !!!
thx!!

Thanks for your reviews, jb and chumpy.

I crack up every time i hear Lunkhead's "Tubes, N00bs" opener. Great song.

jb wrote:Hey Nur Ein motherfuckers, there's a fight goin' on over here!

SONG FIGHT!!!

jb wrote:Billy and the Psychotics: I kind of want an annotated lyric sheet with links to the subreddits you found for that list in the middle. “You’re the king and I don’t get it.”

this song is about a relationship (fictional), destroyed by two opposing views about what our priorities should be on the internet. On one side we have “normal” Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest girl … who met this hot-ish guy on a dating site and they went out. On the other, we have conspiracy-obsessed dude who has expanded the ‘if you can imagine it, there’s porn for it,” philosophy to “If people will believe it, or make a porn for it, then it’s on reddit.”

{disclaimer: I realize there are many useful things to see, do, and discuss on Reddit and it is not all Like This.}

Anyway, low-road-dude’s tired of her whining about all the time he spends trolling places like http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy and http://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/ where they are talking about the Lizard People (http://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/co ... all_about/) and Obama’s birth certificate lies; and the amount of time he spent obsessing about being a useless troll during events like when Julian Assange did that AMA about his book of when Google met Wikileaks
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comm ... _book_when and stuff like that. And he actually believes Elvis is somewhere in Russia too.

there are thousands of these little places (http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/)
just as an aside, she once caught him about to submit a request for an "explanation" about his "boring sex life." Which was SO off topic. I started thinking about how it could all go So Horribly Wrong, if one was dating a conspiracy obsessed internet troll.... sigh. The heart wants...

All of this is a fictional lie done for the reasons of a BatP song character, and I don't know anything about Reddit.

Toby Roktot wrote:Billy and the Psychotics. Got a soft spot for the ladies...

*sigh*

Toby Roktot wrote: ...besides that, this is a fun listen. There is nothing I don't like about this song.....

thanks!
we had fun!

Toby Roktot wrote: but, Lunk's is better imho...

*sigh*

(yeah, he's pretty good )

Turns out I'm not very good at constructive criticism, just destructive criticism or gushing. It'll have to do.

Abjure!
I'm grinning throughout the song, and I realize that more references/jokes than not go over my head. Case in point, "Met her in a deep subreddit. Do you get it?" Nope, I don't get it. It's brilliant, probably. Musically it's a little more simple and sing-songy than I'd prefer, but on the other hand, this is technically guy&guitar and yet it doesn't suck. Well performed, well produced. The Jabba jabber is my favorite part.

Angry No0b
Lovecraftian theme with juvenile delivery and bad production.

Astrolamb
Well this is some weird shit. The only part I don't like is the bit of rapping nearly a minute in. The rest is great. Before those heavy drums come in, your rhythm is staggering all over the place and difficult to follow--this is not a complaint, I like it. And it's cool how you managed to fit like 7 songs into less than 4 minutes. The happy synth that shows up near the middle makes me think of the Beatles for some reason, something sorta Sgt-Peppery. This song is one big mood swing, kinda like Reddit itself I guess, but much more enjoyable. You pretty much had me at the special-FX robovox, but that heavy drums part that comes out of nowhere ("I don't ever wanna see you again" etc.) seals the deal for me.

Berkeley Temple Pilots
That solid guitar riff has me nodding along right from the start. The vocals don't work so well for me in this context; I want them to be harder, meaner, angrier, or more determined, something like that, to match the feel of the guitars. I guess what I'm saying is, you're too cheerful man! There are certainly worse ways to be, and in other contexts your vocals fit perfectly. Back to the song as a whole, I don't like the chorus nearly as much as I like the verse; it's just okay as opposed to rockeriffic. But the bridge is good and the verse pulls me back in strongly, so I wish you'd ended on that riff.

Billy and the Psychotics
Nice little drop of "Sunshine for Your Love" thrown in there at the end of the intro. The background vocals take the song up 5 levels at least, and the main vocals are in harmony with Mother Earth, standard tuning or not. Y'all rock as usual, what more can I say? The internet is (part of) real life, btw; that's the new trendy thing to say with respect to cyberbullying, YOU IDIOTS. The typey breakdown is a little too goofy, I think. You shouldn't have mentioned the l****d people; now they'll increase their efforts to replace you with a doppelganger and put you to work in their subterranean complexes while using you as literal soul food! Unless they already have... Keep on rockin', anyway.

Jerkatorium
Not really my thing but not bad. The background vocals are a major, major plus, a lifesaver even. I laughed at "click click I'm a dick". The internet just makes it so easy, doesn't it. Actually, the analog world does too, come to think. This is so catchy that I found myself humming it in the shower, to my surprise. That's not necessarily a good thing, but it can't be all bad. Good job on the guitar solo.

johndisk0
Well, points for trying and extra points for having the balls to do it live. And bonus points for doing a genre that has never been done before on Songfight (someone correct me if I'm wrong, please). You have opened my mind to the world of slam poetry. All that said, I don't really like this one. You gotta be more chillaxed and more emotive to pull this off. Like, slow down and groove with it, cat. But you did have a lot of words to cram in there in only so much time. I'm curious, were you dressed like a beatnik when you did this?

Lunkhead
That's a great grinding bass sound, how'd you do that? Complemented well by the plucky guitar. You weren't kidding about the Postal Service bridge, which is easily the best part. Nice xylophone zings thrown in there. The spacey 80's guitar is the icing on the cake--no, actually it's the raspberry filling. The snare sound is maybe a little too buried during the chorus. This was playing in my head for over an hour while I waited in line in the car with NPR talking on the radio. I would occasionally, deliberately switch my inner mp3 player to the R. Mosquito song, which I like a lot more, but it kept drifting back to this one. As I said about Jerkatorium's song, that's not necessarily good, but can't be all bad.

R. Mosquito
Right on! If I were wearing socks, or anything else, they'd've been rocked right off. Best song in the fight. I just accidentally punched a hole in the wall, thanks. I'm interpreting "this sub" as a metaphor for all manner of initially appealing but ultimately bad or irrelevant ideas. Abandooonn! I love the part where you trick the listener into thinking you're gonna say "dead" but say "deep" instead. This song is badass enough that it's easy to forget it's about Reddit; without knowing the title, I probably wouldn't've guessed, but it's still clearly based on the title.

Sunday Guts
I was on the fence during the first verse, but the chorus harmonies win me over; I wish you sang that way for practically the whole song, because I'm still not as crazy about the rest of it, although I'm coming around. Bit of a Foo Fighters vibe happening which is nice. What's with the tide&seagulls at the end? Brings to mind Carl Sagan's Cosmos, but it's a little abrupt after the fadeout.

Voted for R. Mosquito and Astrolamb. There's no accounting for taste. I wanted to vote for Lunkhead, BSS, and Sunday Guts, but I didn't because I enjoy those first two exceptionally more than the rest--not counting Angry No0b or course, but I don't vote for myself on principle.

user wrote:Lunkhead
That's a great grinding bass sound, how'd you do that? ...

The bass is a Roland SH-101 synth from the 80s.

user...

thanks for your kind review.
the chorus is meant to be read as a kind of rhetorical question-statement by the song character to her distracted-from-her boyfriend. Like "if all your Redditing, conspiracy believing friends jumped off a bridge, would YOU? HUH?!?!"
don't worry though, this song isn't about me so I'm not venting or anything. In fact, I asked the husband about Obscure Reddit Topics pursued by believers in the fringe or paranormal since I do not have a reddit account. Any misinformation is His Fault (Song Fight excuse #547683: "Husband Made My Lyrics Wonky").

user wrote:johndisk0
I'm curious, were you dressed like a beatnik when you did this?

Actually, I had a Kangol hat, baggy khakis, and a black turtleneck sweater... oh wait...

-jd0

After my computer's logout-gate debacle... I have finally found time to review again. No, these will not be as articulate as the ones I originally wrote. Yay me.

Abjure!
I'm sure the cover topic has been discussed. In the end, I love this (original) song, so I am glad to see someone cover it!

Angry No0b
As I am always a fan of genre fusion, this song was right up my alley. I loved the mashup of hip hop and metal, but I really couldn't understand the chorus due to the excess instruments and volume. If the exuberance was toned down there (just a little) and the vocals brought forward a bit, I would totally have voted for this.

Astrolamb
If the whole song sounded like everything after 2:00, then this song would have been the best of the week. I loved the guitar melody there, and having the raw vocals over that melody would have been fantastic!

Berkeley Social Scene
This had a very classic rock feel to it. I liked it!

Billy and the Psychotics
I love female vocalists, especially sinister sounding ones like Kittie and Garbage. It totally felt like she was feeling the mood of the song moreso than the lyrics themselves which really brought emotion to the track. VOTED! (#1)

Inflatable Vegetables
The lyrics were very on-topic. I liked this one, too.

Jerkatorium
This was both sing-songy and on topic. I found myself humming this one throughout the week, so you get a VOTE! (#3)

johndisk0
Thank you for all of the reviews so far. Please vote

Lunkhead
I totally felt the wub. This was another toe-tapping fun song. I really liked the ending, too. VOTED! (#2)

R. Mosquito
DEEEP I liked the rock and roll of this one.

Sunday Guts
All of the elements were there to make me like this song, but for some reason, I didn't. I think maybe the background singers were too in-then-out. I would have liked to hear more harmony with this track.

-jd0