MGD with a TicTac is NOT a mojito (Punk Bartender Reviews)

[erik]

dude i mean come ON

[MintyHandy]

That would be a seriously punk bartender indeed. I wonder if anyone wrote a song with that interpretation of punk?

[Adam!]

I wonder if anyone wrote a song with that interpretation of punk?

The most common interpretation? My money is on 'Yes'.

[Leaf]

Electrocushin:
So reminds me of Motley Crue. Big time. I love Motley Crue... although they think they are punk, we all know that is just a figment of their imaginations. The production is ... ok. The drum programming... ugh. However, I'm digging this tune. The bridge is fun. The vocals are appropriately bored sounding... but in a cool way, ya know? Good tune, I enjoyed that.

Gimpjuice:
There is some dissonant things going on here that turn me off. This has bits that sound entertaining, and bits that don't . Yeah, this doesn't do it for me.. ooh.. I like that super loud guitar track though... it's ... ok. I think this tune could be way better with another mix and some parts redone. As it is, in my opinion, just hitting the ok mark... I'm not partial to it.

L.R.F.
Parts of this remind me of the Beatles for some reason.. or Sloan. More Sloanish I suppose. The tune sounds forced... but it's ok. I start to get into it a bit more as it goes on... also reminds me of Sam Roberts in some ways. Ok, but not screaming vote for me.

The Molsen Twins:
I wish we had more time, but illness and oh... thousands of kilometres in every direction got in the way. I jammed on this over and over for about three hours last night! Ended up calling Jack and interupting his tracking with ridiculous questions...thanks for taking my calls ... (get call display!) We need to do another collab, but start it say at the start of the week instead of ...say...oh, the night before!

Teaching Willie:
The first strains asked me to vote for this one. And I'm liking it... a lot. Geez, this is working for me. Reminds me of Green Jelly... nice groove, and it's fun. And I lika. CONTENDER. ohh.... harmonica solo?? Vote.... begging vote....


Wrekdom:
Funny. Totally rude and funny. Sounds like Rio Mondo. Totally funny. I like it. Don't get all excited, I'm still voting T.W.... but I could change my mind by week's end if this grows on me.. definitely one to play for some friends after a few drinks... you musta worked in a bar at some point in time...


Well, I enjoyed my drumming/collab experience last night with J & J.

I think I'm voting for the Willies though... that one cooked.

[MintyHandy]

The most common interpretation? My money is on 'Yes'.

Actually, I meant "punk" as in "lousy". You know, punk-arse. The kind of bartender who would make that tic-tac/MGD concoction.

[j$]

Electrocushin - Assuming this is electrocushin (no name in the stream) - enjoying it. Is that a sample / loop? There is something about the tone which makes the guitar sound like it was recorded elsewhere from the rest of the track - especially good parts: drop-out and 'in a country bar' but drum machine without reverb on its own = sounds not so good. this is a minute too long. Vocals sound good.

Gimp Juice - why are the vocals hard panned? You have a nice voice. this song is in need of mastering - it sounds really good - all the parts (even the out of tune guitar noodling) sound good, but the overall mix is just dumb, not in a stupid way, just in a distracting one. Really nice tune though

L.R.F. For a moment I misread LEF and panicked ... nice tune. The chorus is a bit on the dull side compared to the catchiness of the verses ... it has a really nice - and this will sound odd - 80s electro played on real instruments feel to it.

Molsen Twins - c'est moi, jack et leaf. c'est tres bon. great drums. great mixing. I like my lead work. Not so happy with the vocal - due to illness/absence it's a last minute first-take charge through it.

Willie - Great! Vote! Decided within twenty seconds. I imagine/hope this will be a runaway victor...

Wreckdom - I was really enjoying this until i realised its thematic similarity to Liam Lynch's 'United States of Whatever' - really liked it a lot. Favourite wreckdom.

Vote for willie. Naturally

[darb_]

Electrocushin - Assuming this is electrocushin (no name in the stream) - enjoying it. Is that a sample / loop? There is something about the tone which makes the guitar sound like it was recorded elsewhere from the rest of the track

I've really got to work on getting some decent mikes...and a real drummer.

Teaching Willie kicks ass! That's going straight to my car.

[Edge of LA]

teachingwillie.... very nice.... I suspect this is Deshead.

[MintyHandy]

Gimp Juice

+++ Dischordant in a good way
--- Also dischordant in a bad way
+++ Wasn't expecting a love song
+++ Didn't rhyme sass with ass
+++ Guitar solo refreshingly punk for an otherwise non-punk song
--- Wish I could hear the vocals better, and in more than one ear
+++ When he finally talks to her, he only asks for pool table change -- excellent
/// Left me wanting laundry day splendor in a nose ring paradise
/// Were the chord and vocal at the end leftover takes you forgot to cut?

Electrocushin

+++ Billy Idol-style punk! Raaawawawawawaarrrrrararar!
+++ In a country bar!
--- Where's the country riff?
--- During the break, he's a punk bartender in a techno bar
/// Solid, but missing the little touches that could have made it great

Teaching Willie

+++ Mosh!
+++ Moe!
+++ Great lyrics, solidly delivered, just the right harmonies
+++ Rockin' little chorus you got there, sonny
/// The sound of punk, and also the simplicity
/// I listened to it twice
+++ Punk bitch waitress, you're the reason for the boys' long faces
/// I listened a third time
/// And put it in my mp3 collection

Molsen Twins

+++ Punka rocka man
--- Hard to follow Teaching Willie's act
+++ Authentically like a board tape from a seedy bar performance

WreckdoM

--- Spoken vocals way too close to the microphone, ruined the effect
--- "onetwothreefour" should be immediately followed by drums of some sort
+++ Can I get top shelf vodka?
/// Glad to see someone take the perspective of the bartender hisself
/// When the guy talked, would have loved some ambient bar fx

L.R.F.

/// 80s easy-listening punk
+++ Nicely put together, solidly produced
--- Kind of uninspiring and flat

Gotta give it up for Teaching Willie. Without that entry, it would be a dead heat between most of the remaining entries, because they're all solid stuff.

[Adam!]

The most common interpretation? My money is on 'Yes'.

Actually, I meant "punk" as in "lousy". You know, punk-arse. The kind of bartender who would make that tic-tac/MGD concoction.

Your secondary definition is my primary definition. Maybe it's a regional thing.

[jack]

electrocushin
the slash like intro is cool. this needs much bigger drum programming. and a big ass thumping bass. singing's pretty good though. it's like it's got potential to be wall of sound big but the drums hold it back.

wreckdom
well, i listened to it but i didn't really like it much. solid production. 12 year old mentality.

teaching willie
this is pretty solid all around, and i agree with whoever said it sounds like deshead. the chorus vocal vibrato is the giveaway. he, great harmonica solo almost assures the vote and the win. ok, the single note piano solo on top of it seals it.

lrf
drums are great. they sound real even, with the rimshots. this is pretty good. it gets a bit repetitive as the arrangement pretty much stays the same through the whole song with little dynamic shift. it's well done though.

gimp juice
something about that intro makes me think all the young dudes. this is a quirky little song. it makes me think of the band. you know. The Band. very nicely done. lots of good gratuitous guitar noodling too gets the thumbs up from me! i like the harmonies on the chorus but i wish you hadn't hard panned that right in those sections and maybe did a full pan instead. imho. odd little ending. good tune.

the molsen twins
having the chance to work with 2 of my favorite folks from songfight is always a treat. the fact that this entire song came together in one night is hard to believe, and the only reason it came together at all is due to the fact that there is literally about 8000 miles between the 3 of us (we are in 3 countries after all). the 9 hour time difference between johnny and i was the buffer we needed so that i could mix, leaf could record, and johnny could sleep. johnny gave me his tracks at 2am his time, then leaf and i cranked out and mixed our parts in a crazy late night session that had leaf calling me 4 or 5 times (always great to chat with you man!). i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. when johnny gave me the tracks, he said something about it having a frank black sort of feel and i told him to try and pixie up his tracks, which i think he did a tremendous job on. and leaf, your drums are awesome man. killer recording quality. the lyrics for this are so god damned funny i crack up every time i listen to it. it was a real push to get this done in time but i'm very happy with how it turned out.

[Lunkhead]

Wreckdom's song almost made me blow my drink out my nose. I vote for it, yes...

[Richard WreckdoM]

My fellow Americans and proud Non-Americans. It's been a while on the review tip, but with this few songs, I have no excuse. The only song that will have gotten more than one pre-review listen, for obvious reasons, is WreckdoM. Thank you for reading and of course listening.

Teaching Willie: Snore. This isn't terrible, but there's nothing about it grabbing my attention. The musical portions mesh together pretty smoothly. Maybe that's what I don't like. Nothing coming out on top to carry me along.

Molsen Twins: I like the name for this collaborative effort. The singing style, or should I say whining style is irritating. This is really annoying. I'm trying to give it a chance, but it's self serving drivel. Whoever is singing this is really into his own voice, and I'd venture to guess, really into himself in general. Not a quality that I look for in a musician.

Gimp Juice: I do like that vocal effect. A bit of Stereo enhancement going on there, which I'm a BIG fan of. This is not just a comment on your song, but a re-cap of the fight so far. Where's the passion? Energy? Something? I feel like I've been awake for several days on end and I'm drueling on myself whilest watching infomercials for Memory Power, so I guess you live up to the Gimp portion of your name. Not my cup of tea, or coffee or Juice for that matter.

Electrocushin: This starts out with a little promise, but the guitar part is totally ripped off. A bit Sabbath-esque, but crappy? The vocals aren't as annoying as most today. No thank you anyway. Keep at it though, I see promise.

L.R.F: Droning. Repetitious. I wouldn't choose this style for any occasion. Maybe if I was pretentious and thought that I was really artsy-cool. Wait a minute, I do, but I still don't like this. 1234! Sometimes hearing something can make bile want out. I can't point out exactly what bothers me about this. Maybe it's because you're so good at holding an off key note. Maybe it's because this feels like the "musicians" are crawling through muddy sludge unable to conjur the energy to stand.

WreckdoM: This is excellent! Listening to this final mix, I do sort of wish the drums stood out a bit more. I really liked the way they sounded. Everyone else in this fight, notice the way the vocals have some pizazz. The vocals don't sound like there were people sleeping in the next room and the singer had to be quiet. Not that this style is what you have to do, but get some gutteral flexing going on when you sing. It really comes across vocally. Great Job to you Geoff WreckdoM. And I'd like to thank the special Guest Bass player of WreckdoM this week. "Craig-Oh: It's in there" courtesy of Rubber Robot.

My vote goes to WreckdoM. Hands down.

[Leaf]

This is really annoying. I'm trying to give it a chance, but it's self serving drivel. Whoever is singing this is really into his own voice, and I'd venture to guess, really into himself in general. Not a quality that I look for in a musician.

WreckdoM: This is excellent! Listening to this final mix, I do sort of wish the drums stood out a bit more. I really liked the way they sounded. Everyone else in this fight, notice the way the vocals have some pizazz. The vocals don't sound like there were people sleeping in the next room and the singer had to be quiet. Not that this style is what you have to do, but get some gutteral flexing going on when you sing. It really comes across vocally. Great Job to you Geoff WreckdoM. And I'd like to thank the special Guest Bass player of WreckdoM this week. "Craig-Oh: It's in there" courtesy of Rubber Robot.

My vote goes to WreckdoM. Hands down.

Hypo-crite.

[Richard WreckdoM]

Hypo-crite.

Leaf, My friend from the frozen north. I can't stand the sound of my own voice. The few WreckdoM songs that contain it are the ones that I don't like listening to. It makes me feel very embarassed.

If you find me hypocritical, I apologize. I'm only trying to provide constructive criticism, however abstract the constructive portion of it is.

Again, I recommend that everyone get Gutteral next week. Just try it, you might like it.

[Leaf]

That's fine.

But I do take issues with a few things:

1) A negative response based on an assumption? How do you know that vocalist doesn't loathe their voice? Do you read minds? Did that singer post about how awesome they are? I think not. You don't have to like it. But calling it self-serving drivel? From one half of Wrekdom? yeah, right.

2) It's absolutley ludicrious to call out another musician on an ego issue while trumpeting your own ego. There are a ton of old cliches that sum this concept up... I'm sure you know them!

During the show, the crowd is jumpin, and singing, girls are hitting on the singer, the crowd is on fire. Must be a great show eh?

During the show, the singer is upset because their shirt has sweat stains under the arms, the monitor mix is terrible, their girlfriend dumped them and he keeps having to improvise lyrics cause he doesn't know the tunes... he can't wait til it's over so he can get some much needed rest... must be a shit show eh?

During the show, an excited fan yells' WREKDOM RULES' you're the best! I love your voice! Must be a great show, eh?

During the show, a jealous musician sits in the back of the club, and every little glitch, every little mistake and he would have done it better, he is so much better in his little bar-cubicle, he would never had used that tone, fucked up that lyric, what a terrible show.

During the show, the drummer is tight, and the groove is deadly. What a great moment. The crowd is dancing , they must be lovin it.

During the show, the bass player is choked cause there's no room for him to shine, no moment to escape the barrage of notes from the drummer, the painfull....




I sure hope you get the point.

[jack]

well, i freaking LOVE the way johnny cashpoint sings, or i obviously wouldn't collaborate so much with him.

to each his own.

[darb_]

Electrocushin: This starts out with a little promise, but the guitar part is totally ripped off. A bit Sabbath-esque, but crappy? The vocals aren't as annoying as most today. No thank you anyway. Keep at it though, I see promise.

Ripped off? No.
Stereotypical Punk Guitar Riff? Definitely!
And it sounds Sabbath-esque because the recording sucks. It's not much better than if I had a string going from the amp grill to line in on an 8-bit soundcard in a 486.
Oh, don't worry, we'll keep at it.

[MaxMinimally]

Electrocushin – Yeah, for sure, we need to find a better way to record the guitar. I’m not going to mention the shitty drums, which really hold the song back, but, you have to make do. I had a lot of fun with this. If you ever get to Mesilla, New Mexico, in old Mesilla on the plaza, there’s a cantina. Enter… look for the chick punk bartender. Sit at the bar and drink a pint of Fat Tire. By far, the best Electrocushin yet.

Gimp Juice – I think I like the organ. I dig the chorus. It fits with the rest of the whiney singing. As clear as the rest of song sounds, the guitar at 1:24 has way too much distortion and it sounds a little too muddy. I would have liked to hear it better. What the hell is up with the end. I thought I was going to get a happy ending until that happened. It really doesn’t sit well with me.

L.R.F. – It just didn’t do much for me. The percussion is nice but the crashes don’t need to be so muted. I wish I had more to say about this tune. Sorry.

Molsen Twins – It has some potential, but you really sound like you’re forcing the singing. As if you were singing in your car in a traffic jam and didn’t want anyone to know you were singing. Explore the room, cowbell style.

Teaching Willie – Hmm... Moe makes an appearance. Defiantly sounds punk. Punk riff, punk drums. The harmony in the vocals is excellent. I like the hold on “thissssssssssss”. Holy shit, a harmonica! Very nice.

Wreckdom – Damn near killed ‘em. 1234! This is quite a funny piece. Sounds like someone spent too much time on the working side of the bar.

Great entries overall!

Teaching Willie gets my vote.

[nyjm]

do all punks have nose rings? it would seem so.

Electrocushin
- riff from metallica, vocals from zz-top; while not winning originality points, kudos for good taste
- in a country bar! haha! love it.
- more meat to the breakdown, maybe?

Gimp Juice
- out of tune guitar melody is just painful, same for the backing vocals
- not really digging the lyrics
- i like the effect on main vocals, but they seem washed out a bit to far and pushed too far left

l.r.f.
- lyrics lack a strong melody, a definite rhythm; especially at first, they seem groping
- interesting unrequited love angle, but nothing really speaks (or rather sings) to me
- rock out more, this just seems to lope along

The Molsen Twins
- love the name
- uh, rhythm? the chorus seems to just fall apart. tighten it up.
- up the vocals in the mix, sounds like you're singing karaoke

Teaching Willie
- ah something that finally rocks out properly
- are those sampled little interludes? a nice touch
- nice and tight, short but appropriately so

Wreckdom
- haha! nice change of pace and point of view!

Electrocushin takes this for wit and slick song-writing, but with strong contention from Teaching Willie for a tightly-crafted tune that rocks. Wreckdom gives a song that just might make it to my next party for drunken laughs; a good friend of mine is a bartender - he'll sympathize.

[Jim of Seattle]

I'm having a hard time writing reviews for all these punk songs. I'm not in the mood for this right now. All these songs sound pretty much the same to me, and are all pretty good. I wrote individual reviews, but I'm not posting them, because I don't think they're helpful. It's Wreckdom for me, with a 5-way tie for second place. Good job everyone.

[deshead]

Electrocushin: Lots of hiss. I guess that's the mic on the guitar amp? Given the guitar tone, you could roll off everything above 4KHz on that track to clean it up. The kick and snare need to be a lot louder. I can't hear them at all in the chorus (it's all "ts-ts-ts-ts-ts" hat stuff.) The song works in spite of those things, though. It's a good take on the title.

Gimpjuice: It's all bass drum. I killed 14dB below 120Hz, and that almost got it. The guitar solo is awesome though. What a great tone. I'm a fan of George Martin-style, hard panning, but it's very distracting when done on the lead vocal. Still not sure how I feel about it here. I think this song would sound better if you switched the pan positions of the lead vocal and the drums, but then, I appreciate you were going for an effect. Maybe this'll grow on me. Yeah, that guitar tone is fantastic. The snare and hat are lost in the mix once the instruments start. You could bring the bass drum down a bunch, and bring the snare way up. All that said, this is a good tune.

L.R.F.: Great drum tones. The vocals are just at the threshold of audibility, so they could be a notch louder. Or you could EQ out some space for them from everything else. Other than that, I'd say the mix is perfect.

The Molsen Twins: This was written for St. Paddy's day, right? I love daytime drinking! And I like this track more the more I listen to it. I wish Johnny had more time on the vocals, 'cause it sounds rushed in a couple of places. But I definitely hear the Frank Black/Pixies thing. I'd drop the bass level a bit, boost Leaf's entire kit, and pan the filtered/phasered guitar and the acoustic to 10 and 2. But that's just me.

Teaching Willie: It's a Simpson's reference.

Wreckdom: Jesus wept. I can't possibly give this mix any feedback. But I've listened to the song 10 times, and I laughed every time. Best ending ever.


I can't decide between Gimpjuice and LeafShitePoint. More beer will help.