ST24.4 Reviews - glennny

Read on for Round 4 reviews from SpinTunes 23 Champion glennny:

Celestial Drift- Water Fox

Swampy! I love the vibe. There are some killer riffs here. The vocal melody falls short for me. It reminds me of Les Claypool, the way it’s a character voice telling a story. This is fun, and it may be too short. I don’t think the solo develops into its potential. There’s a super dirty groove here, and I desperately want to take a 24-bar slide solo on this song. The lyrics are solid. Well done!

Vehicles of Beware- Vulpes Vulpes

This is my favorite of the round. I did not expect the drum machine, it’s interesting and cool. The best part is the acoustic guitar. It sounds great. There’s something very Sting about the chorus. It reminds me of Mad About You or something like that. Maybe the best part is the heavy riff? So much good stuff all over this track. Your voice is awesome! The passionate “we didn’t see it coming” is awesome! I’m quite excited for your future songs! Great job!

David Taro- Kitsune

You win the production fight. I’m in awe. Every instrument sounds so perfect. Do the toms have their own microphone? They sound so good. All of the little touches are quite beautiful. The dynamics of this are amazing. This listen really shines with headphones. I think this is too long. I think it would’ve been stronger edited down.

Governing Dynamics-Blue Ruin

I finally like where you placed the vocals in the mix. The drum machine is cool. A bit of a strange choice, perhaps an easier animal to control? I think I would cut the pre-choruses. There’s not much of a dynamic lift between them and the chorus. There are so many lyrics. Not enough instrumental interludes, be they solos or breaks. All that said, I really enjoy the listen.

Joy Sitler- Survival of the Fittest

This is wonderful! I’m a fan! I’ve been enjoying My Broken Demo tape on Spotify in non-contest world. How do you pack so much song in 97 seconds? It’s astounding. This is a great song!  The lyrics are clever, they remind me of Stephin Merritt (high praise, easily my favorite lyricist)

Jealous Brother- Lost in the Fog

This is a sweet folky tune. Oh man, that acoustic guitar solo is so tasty! I love the music-to-vocal ratio of this song. The brushed snare is perfect. All of the jam band folks I talk concerts with would love this song. Excellent job! Vocals, melody, and performance are all top notch!

Hot Pink Halo- Textboom Case

See you in Song Fight! I didn’t read the title, Geech read it to me. I wrote on our fakebook whiteboard “Text Bookcase”. There are some tasty bass lines going on in this thing. A lot of the vocal phrasing sounds awkward to me. This is fun enough.

Sober- from This Clay

Always a delight to hear you play. The vocals and harmonies are exquisite. Damn! Do have other players that could play this song with you? Such badass playing! I love the acoustic, the mandolin, the banjo. This is world-class. Wow! I don’t understand how you’re not in the finals. This song is a really good one for you. If I were at a listening booth in the 80’s, you would have sold me on this album. Excellent!

TBOES-of droughts and flooding rains

Rock power! I love this side of you Gizo! Vocals are just awesome. I do think the loud guitars are a bit quiet in the mix. It’s a punk song. The angst is at 10, Very cool drums in this. I love it!