Here are your Round 2 rankings from Zoe Gray:
Read on for Zoe's reviews!
Jeff Walker - Such Good Friends
This sounds great, as ever. You’ve found your niche and sound, and you’ve got a great skill at crafting a melody that slides perfectly into the country pocket. The “oh ay oh”s on this, in particular, sound excellent, and they lead nicely into the harmonies while functioning as the call-and-responses that the challenge needs. Some of the lyrics get a touch literal– I’m a personal fan of a little more metaphor or subtlety when circling a subject like love or loss. As far as instrumentation goes: the slide guitar here is excellent, and the bass fills everything out nicely. The drums could do a touch more to support the structure of the song.
Favorite lyric: “When she comes over, I’ll be tougher.”
Stacking Theory - Marco Polo
This is beautiful. Your stacked harmonies fill out so much of the arrangement, and what you don’t have there you have in a walking bassline, those drums that kick in, and a nice smooth guitar. The orchestration sounds full in just the right way. I appreciate the tambourine and lower, crunchy guitar that kick in during the chorus, and the switch down to the relative minor. There’s a U2 comparison to be made here. The lyrics make great use of the challenge. You weave in a lot of different water metaphor that enrich the Marco Polo motif. I’m also a big fan of songs that end on some sort of lyrical turn or button, something you accomplish readily.
Favorite lyric: “Brother mine, don’t fall for that old siren song”
Berkeley Social Scene - I Need a Vacation
You’ve got a really fun melodic line in the vocals here. There’s an obvious call-and-response coming in: I love the interpretation of the challenge as the narrator quite literally challenging themself and being forced to answer. The bouncy guitar during the verse is fun, and the bass is right on it. There’s a couple times that the drums lag a little bit and could be tightened up rhythmically at times. You bring in a great back and forth with the instrumentals in the bridge. You could clean up the diction on those responses in the back a little; the lyrics get a bit lost in the muffled harmonies. You haven’t got a terribly complex chorus, but I like the slight changes from chorus to chorus.
Favorite lyric: “Do you want some anti-anxiety meds?”
Joy Sitler - First and Prospect
Your natural vocal quality sounds wonderful with the style you’re going for, the midwest emo thing. I like this genre a lot, and it’s heavily lyric-based. It’s a good thing your lyrics are excellent. (I have also rhymed basement with amazement when writing about an underground concert??) You’ve got a nice implementation of the challenge here with the questions. I’d work on the harmonies a little bit and tighten them up timing wise. As far as arrangement goes: I’m a fan of the heavy drum fill between the verses. You could push it back a little further and bring the guitar up. I’m always appreciative of a breakdown and buildup, and the vox-and-guitar only third verse felt very cathartic.
Favorite lyric: “I had a perfect plot, then I went and lost it”
glennny - The Alaskan Camper
I’m so glad you let us in on this memory and gave us context in the bio; this is clearly an important piece of your childhood, and this song is a beautiful way to honor your dad. I love how many details are included in the lyrics; I feel let into a memory. Your bridge here is hilarious. Great lyrics and a great melody there. And then that rocking guitar solo. You clearly know what you’re doing with the guitar. You’ve got a super fun modulation going for the chorus and an exciting melodic line. The chorus doesn’t wind up quite feeling like a release, but it does have a Beach Boys-esque quality. I’d love to hear you reach down to that round, supported chest voice for the chorus.
Favorite lyric: “This old jalopy is my only comfort zone”
Cheslain - Stranger Danger
Wow wow wow to this guitar. It’s twangy, it’s hard, it’s got what I colloquially refer to as scrunch. You’ve got a perfectly filled-out band orchestrating this, complete with great tambourine shake-and-thump drums. I’d love a tiny bit less reverb on the vocals so your growl can come through. Is there any time when the melody could take us up to something intense and growling? I got what I wanted finally in the last chorus, but I could’ve seen that register tapped into more throughout. The counting game is a fun interpretation of the challenge; not the most call and responsey song in spirit, but I’ll allow it. I love the interjections inbetween verse and prechoruses.
Favorite lyric: “Smooth talker, slick walker”
The Pannacotta Army - Can’t Do Nothing
Oh, this is so fun. What a great rhythm, what a great 60’s groove. You have a great voice and you know how to use it. You keep things chill here, laid-back, and then hook us with an earworm melody in the chorus. The challenge really behooved you here, and it was great to see you embrace it and use it to define the song, instead of struggling against it. You have a ton of witty stanzas and metaphors, which wind up creating a feeling in this song akin to Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World. I’m a huge fan.
Favorite lyric: “Someone called me indolent, but I’ve no idea what he meant”
See-Man-Ski - All For You
I love the melodic line in the instrumentals here! The piano, drums, bass all build up nicely to the chorus and keep up a clear, energetic beat. The repeated hook is catchy and fun! You have some echoing vocals– I”m not sure this is entirely enough to meet the challenge, but perhaps the synth piano/other instrumentals could be construed as call and response. The vocals do get a little swallowed up at times– the issue there is mixing, but also perhaps a bit of breath support and tighter timing on the harmonies would help. “Why do I make these same mistakes” was exactly what I waiting for, a moment for you to go up there and let it out. This overall just has a very fun melody, and I really like the piano line. The chorus redefines the story told by the verses, and there’s some lovely imagery in here.
Favorite lyric: “So I lay out the path with a gold coloured marker”
Ironbark - Last Call
Oh, “this haunted machine.” This song tells such a beautiful story; I love this concept. It’s such a wonderful take on the call and response challenge, and I think actually incorporates the spirit of the challenge into the song better than most. We’re here with you, waiting on a response that comes from every instrument but never from another voice. It’s lonely, at times, but the responses of the piano, synth, accordion are all so charming that it’s a comfort out in the emptiness of space. The arrangement feels like it completely supports the story of the song. It’s empty in the correct way. All of the melodic lines come in are so lovely, but I’m especially a fan of that french-sounding piano accordion duo. You maintain a great sense of vocal control here. It feels like you’re holding back, which builds the suspense.
Favorite lyric: “Here I am in this body, this haunted machine”
Chamomileon - Cool Kona Breeze
You’ve got a great melodic line with the electric guitar, which clearly calls and responds with the vocal line. It adds something sharp and clear to the arrangement which I really appreciate. You’ve got a nice beachy drum line, I like the little cymbal tings that open up to crash cymbal in the bridge. Your harmonies are classic and fun; you could tighten the timing up a little bit and keep the main vocal line more in the forefront so it doesn’t get lost in the higher harmonies– which do sound very sound. You’ve got a good rhyme scheme going in the verses, although the chorus is fairly simplistic.
Favorite lyric: “Can you hear us clearly? Not quite.”
▷ - Brain Brain
The 5/4 is a very fun choice. It combines with the 8-bit sound of the instrumentation to create an engaging sound that is always keeping me just slightly off my guard. The instrumental bridge on the synth is very fun. I love the idea of the synth coming in with a response that is entirely unintelligible to the songwriter/POV singer. Your harmonies are tight and generally sound great. I think this is very fun overall. The place where it loses me is from a storytelling perspective– there’s a nice funny, Flight of the Conchords kind of thing going on, but as the song goes it seems to lose the thread a little. I don’t mind meta, but the stream of consciousness came across as unpolished/the story as uncultivated. I think I lost you a little on what you were trying to say/convey with the piece.
Favorite lyric: “So I took my medication, and I waited.”
The Moon Bureau - Never Knew
This has a vast and beautiful sound. The arrangement is excellent, but it swallows the vocals up by the time the chorus rolls around. Your vocals are on the lower side, so the supporting instruments tend to go high, which is fine, but I’d love to push those vocals a little further forward, especially because I really like the lyrics here. The call-and-response makes perfect sense and reads as more than just a gimmick, but rather a natural and integral part of the song. The story of this song is supported by the melody and structure: the lead up to the ending in the last chorus keeps up the energy very well. Your high cymbals are a bit harsh and tend to get in the way of comprehensibility of the vocals, but the drum lead up to the chorus is great and I like your choice of synth.
Favorite lyric: “But vacant hearts and aimless days seed bitter thoughts when they pervade”
The Dutch Widows - Johnny Roadhouse
I love the lyrics and story of this so much. It makes me want Johnny himself to speak to us at some point, given the nature of the challenge. But the voices that do chime in are all specified: we’re analyzing Johnny’s decisions like a therapist or investigator, and then we also function as the general public outcrying his deeds. You’ve got a great melody here, but some of the lyrics are getting lost in the mix. I’d love a little more diction: the recording feels very laid back, which is fine, but with that kind of a performance, you’ve got to bump up the consonants a little crisper so we don’t lose the lyrics. The arrangement sounds great. The guitars and drums are perfectly mixed, and there’s a nice melody on the guitar in the bridge. The ending feels like it wraps up tightly story-wise, but the music doesn’t sound like it’s really on the same page, which made the ending come across as abrupt.
Favorite lyric: “He thinks he sucks blood while the skin is still healing, makes a vitamin loop and a circular feeling”
chewmeupspitmeout - Nobody likes a Purist
You come in strong with this Mario-sounding synth and plucky bass. There’s a great interplay between the two instruments– and the electric guitar– trading off lines. But there’s something off-kilter to the whole song. I don’t know if this is on purpose, but this dissonance makes it difficult to listen to. I think the harmonies are somewhat tonally/melodically off, and the timing of certain moments– the descending synth behind the hook, for instance– feels a little all over the place. This is a shame, because the main melodic line is very fun. I enjoy the idea of bouncing things back between the purist and his detractors. Overall, it just feels like it needs to be cleaned up before it can really get there.
Favorite lyric: “Music attained perfection when I was seventeen”
The Alleviators - Hear Me Out
This is absolutely my favorite of the round, on basically every level. First off, it’s arranged and mixed exceedingly well. The drum fills are right where I want them, you have a great breakdown on the bridge, and the full band echoes vocals that are the perfect place in the mix to be supported, not swallowed up. And, oh man, those vocals! Beka, you’ve got a truly beautiful voice. It’s a great tried-and-true song structure, each voice helming a verse, constantly just missing each other, then coming together by the end. It’s a great touch, and supports the story. The interjections into one another’s verses also work very well. I think the reason why this is head and shoulders above the rest of the entries this round for me comes down to melody. Your melodic line is just straight-up engaging, performed to perfection, and buoyed by the band. Really great work, all around.
Favorite lyric: “You’re so sure of your self-fulfilling prophecy”
Hot Pink Halo - Looking At You
This has some wonderful space imagery. There’s some lovely word choices and scenes evoked: “as time pirouettes away”, “trying to move while standing still”, “one bears its heart”, the whole refrain of “tedious”ness. I like the story progression you lead us to, to the turn to a new thought at the end. I’d love to see the visual art pieces that supplement the song. You’ve got a pretty basic drum with nice floating synths overhead; the arrangement doesn’t feel entirely filled out, but the clean electric that comes in is a nice touch. The vocals are a little shaky, but you’ve got a good melody. I could use more variation on the melodic line.
Favorite lyric: “A piano-sized craft catapults with grace”
Governing Dynamics - Feverishness
This sounds really great, guys. The panning back and forth, the bounce of the harmonies. You fulfilled the challenge in some creative ways. The dreamy electric is gorgeous, and the hard electric that we get by the prechorus/chorus is striking. I think I would’ve appreciated a little more continuity between the two sections. I think the most unification of the diverse feelings contained in this song comes when the two guitars trade back and forth in the bridge. The song does wind up feeling a little song by the end, but it ends on a great button. You have an interesting interplay between more grounded, detailed verses and symbolist choruses; perhaps the “dreams” are what are described by the scattered imagery in the choruses? Either way, there’s a confidence in your lyrics that consistently sells your songs.
Favorite lyric: “Start the car, fire the crew, windows bricked, tires bare”
Eric Baer - We Work Together
I love the idea of taking a challenge about call-and-response and making it a song about community. The vocals are more stacked harmonies than call-and-response, but I see the response coming in throguht he banjo, which sounds wonderful. Kudos to any song with a banjo solo. It goes a little out of time somewhere near the beginning there, but overall sounds great and keeps me engaged. Your vocals are a bit muffled and I think they peak at times, but I appreciate the harmonies! Overall, I think what brings this song down is the simplicity of the lyrics: I’d love to see you punch through to something specific, throw a few details in that really personalize the story you’re telling.
Favorite lyric: “When wildfires come round, we all do what we can until the rain comes down”
Sober - The Morning Call
This song has a great forward driving force, constantly pushing forward. The banjo is hardcore, and I love when the electric kicks in. You’ve got some great supporting drums, too, and a shoe-tappable beat. It’s feels like a fairly short song, but it really takes you along with it. I’ll be real, that banjo solo is by far the most exciting part of the song. And going from that solo to a slow vocals-only harmonic line, just to build back up to the big band– that really works for me. The lyrics are a bit literalist, but the “give the game away” hook works very well. I’d imagine the call and response comes into play the most between the guitar and banjo, but I’d have loved to see you work it into the vocals a bit.
Favorite lyric: “If there’s nothing between them and you but fate”
Dream Bells - Sugar Plums (Just Enough)
As with last round, I love the sound of this song. You create a soundscape and a dream world that I want to live in for, basically, forever. There’s a place in my brain that the synths scratch that makes me want to put this on repeat, and this one is actually, I would say, more catchy than the last. It sparkles. The call and response is, I assume, between the bells and the vocals. You’ve got some great lyrics in the verses, metaphorical and lovely, and a nice rhyme scheme going on “plum/snow”, “numb/know”. The lyrics are still largely unintelligible despite being boosted up and sung quite beautifully. I think making the consonants crisper might fix this. I love the descending melodic line on “just enough” in the choruses, though, and that part is vocally clear.
Favorite lyric: “Where the birds sing to the fruit trees’ applause”
Temnere - Sons Of The North
You’ve brought out another great piece that feels epic in scale. This is supported by the lyrics– songs! Brothers! Heroes!– and the orchestration, which includes some hard as fuck guitar solos. Your vocals sound great, especially the “row, row, row”s a the ending. I like the way the synths get taken over by the electric guitar, and you’ve got tight, exciting drums as ever. The song drives forward at a pace that feels only slightly *too* hectic. The melody feels at times like it’s trying to catch up to the pace of the song. But I like the build up that we get on the prechoruses.
Favorite lyric: “And my brothers, don’t you ever live with shame”
Winterloper - I Keep Calling
This feels somewhat like a still unfinished draft– very nearly there. There certainly seem to be some enhancements that could come from more lyrics and perhaps filling out the lower register of the orchestration at times, but the arrangement is largely excellent. I love the stacked harmonies. I think the piano’s response to the vocals could fulfill the call-and-response challenge, but I may have to rank this down for not committing very hard to the spirit of the challenge– as I have with a few others. This would be some excellent-sounding elevator music, but I think you could elevate it to a level beyond that while staying in the general genre and vibe that you have going on now, like you did with Frostbitten Hearts.
Favorite lyric: Well. It’s gonna have to be “I keep calling, you keep falling.”
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