A Song for Strange Times (acid country grunge elevator jazz...yeah.)

[guitfnky]

maybe one of the weirdest songs I've done. kinda went way out on this one--the bizarre song structure somehow manages to flow seamlessly between genres. really happy with how it turned out. somehow the genre-bending actually worked.

[Quarmat]

The guitars, as in every track of yours, are perfect. Quality indie-rock we have here. I love chord changes, and the voice has so much character. I can hear hints of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Americana, 90s alt-rock even some Crash Test Dummies in the verse! Good job. As a teen i grew up with stuff like this on MTV Europe, and these sounds bring back so many memories. Future seemed more bright, back then.

[Rising Night Wave]

i don't know. the wery start reminds me of metallica and their album load.
otherwise song is really interesting. nice tune you got. keep it up.
it is not my type of music / styles but i like it.
vocal is very interesting. it fits so well into this music.

nice, nice.

[Marketblandings]

This is so inspiring! Stay weird.
This song is close to being great.
I would give the "cowboy" parts their own environment. Very dry. Very little reverb. Vocal up front but still controlled (through an LA-2A, maybe). So that when you go to Tame Impala-land in the beautiful B section, it makes a really noticeable change in....everything.
Bury your vocal a bit more into the expansive B part. More compression. Touch more reverb. The surprising chord progressions really work and is what I like most. Minor/Major etc.
I love the harsh fuzz guitar coming in. Way too loud though. The background disappears.
Finish strong right through to the end. The solos sound a bit abandoned.

I love it, though.
Keep going.

[JC1]

This is a nice track and all the elements in it probably shouldn't have worked but somehow you made it work.
Like Mr Night Wave, this isn't my cup of tea either, but I appreciate your style and song writing skill, and there's a depth in the sound that is actually quite beautiful when allowed to breathe. I can also hear a Depeche Mode-sque vocal in there as well so that's a winner there straight up with me
Well done gutfunky!

And I also must say too, I absolutely love Tension Hook as well! My favourite

[selig]

I just hear indy, certainly no obvious acid or country influences to my ears. I’m probably not the best “genre police” since I don’t pay attention to those things that much, but this doesn’t sound at all genre bending to me. Just sounds like what I’ve always called creative songwriting, which I typically say to mean someone who is NOT so hung up on genres they don’t ever take chances.

I totally agree the comment that the end leaves me feeling you just gave up and turned both guitar solo options ON and left it at that. Don’t give up on this one!!!

[guitfnky]

wow, thanks for all the great comments! I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the wide variety of 'reminds me of xyz'--but it does--and that's awesome.

the end section is purposeful, and if anyone had been watching as I'd read the comments they might've seen me visually recoil when I got to the word "solo". it's a bit of intentional chaos, which also (as Quarmat may have surmised) stems from the 90s grunge thing. I knew going in that section wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but it serves its purpose, adding contrast leading into the next tune (imo).

thanks for listening!

[selig]

wow, thanks for all the great comments! I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the wide variety of 'reminds me of xyz'--but it does--and that's awesome.

the end section is purposeful, and if anyone had been watching as I'd read the comments they might've seen me visually recoil when I got to the word "solo". it's a bit of intentional chaos, which also (as Quarmat may have surmised) stems from the 90s grunge thing. I knew going in that section wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but it serves its purpose, adding contrast leading into the next tune (imo).

thanks for listening!

I don’t think the ending is coming off as you describe it, at least not for me. I LOVE songs that fall apart at the end, just so you know I’m not against the idea. I just don’t think it’s doing what you hoped it would do, but that’s just one guys random opinion FWIW. But I also didn’t hear it as genre bending at all, so there’s that….

[guitfnky]

wow, thanks for all the great comments! I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the wide variety of 'reminds me of xyz'--but it does--and that's awesome.

the end section is purposeful, and if anyone had been watching as I'd read the comments they might've seen me visually recoil when I got to the word "solo". it's a bit of intentional chaos, which also (as Quarmat may have surmised) stems from the 90s grunge thing. I knew going in that section wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but it serves its purpose, adding contrast leading into the next tune (imo).

thanks for listening!

I don’t think the ending is coming off as you describe it, at least not for me. I LOVE songs that fall apart at the end, just so you know I’m not against the idea. I just don’t think it’s doing what you hoped it would do, but that’s just one guys random opinion FWIW. But I also didn’t hear it as genre bending at all, so there’s that….

I listened back to it like 4 or 5 times since reading this while driving around to and fro, trying to hear where it's not working---and I just don't hear what you're hearing/not hearing. it works for me. I can only look at something I'm working on with as objective an eye as my subjective eyes allow, and put the ol' stamp of approval on it if it meets that bar. and a song would no longer be true to me if I changed it, unless I agreed.

as for genre, I haven't put too much stock into the term in a long time. tbh, the most I think about it is when I need to add the little parentheses here, into the title line, when posting a song.   the term 'acid' I actually had to look up, because I couldn't remember which subgenre of psychedelic music went with the fuzzed out guitars (hence the 'acid country' part). maybe those aren't an apt description. they probably aren't. but you said yourself 'not too hung up on genres', which fits, and also kinda implies there's some amount of genre-crossing happening, even if the genres aren't as accurately labeled as they might be by someone who pays closer attention to those things. there are definitely some pretty heavy-handed genre tropes in there, from vastly different spheres, which is the main reason I felt that was a good way to describe it. at the end of the day, though, I take that as a compliment as well--it implies the mixture is smooth enough to come off as genuine, rather than forced, or gimmicky. I'll take it.

[Scoobyman II]

I love the genre title you gave it. It reminds me a bit of Blinker the Star.