Get a job!
The latest from our mystery artist “BD,” in which glimmers of light can be seen through the Stygian work void. Or so he says.
The next two tracks from the Job album describe the closest things our hero has to hopeful moments during his tenure at Anonymous Inc. The first of these, entitled “The Losing Side,” is a track written by another member of RTH, who I will not name here. As the seeds of the Job LP were planted in my mind, I told a few musician friends what I was up to, and this guy offered up a rough demo of a song that seemed to fit the spirit of the effort. I loved it, but, with his permission, took some liberties with melody, lyric, and structure that I thought tightened things up a bit. Today, I say to this anonymous songwriter: listening back to your original demo after 10+ years, I now question my editorial decisions, and I am sorry if I effed up your fine song.
The second of the momentarily hopeful album tracks details the one thing that keeps our hero coming back to work every day: his love for—or at least unhealthy obsession with—an unattainable female co-worker who works in Office 242. Many thanks to the last of our anonymous Townsman collaborators, who vastly improved my original draft lyrics, and who penned this wonderful line, among many others: “How I wish it wasn’t Friday, ‘cause now I’ll spend the next two days on what I did so badly, and what I wish I had the nerve to do, with the girl who works in office 242.”
I appreciate your patience as we wend our way through this album. And thanks for the thoughtful comments and production suggestions — keep ‘em coming. Stick with me — important life changes are in the works for our protagonist.
I like both tracks quite a bit.
Track 1:
The Romantics meets The Vapors. I appreciate the vocal dexterity required to sing those lyrics.
Track 2:
I immediately thought of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1CaN4thI5w
(which samples Steely Dan’s “Peg” – there an additional something about your track (the structure or chord progression) that makes also gets me thinking about “Peg.”
Mr. Royale also noted that the chord progression (or something sounding like it) also is heard in the Go-Between’s “Streets of Your Town” (I won’t add the link due to the limit per post.)
I enjoy the lyrics, but would lose the cheesy synth in the background.
Track 1 – The Vapors, exactly what I was thinking. With a sprinkle of Ramones for good measure. A song where the verses are a more interesting than the chorus, but I’m just nitpicking a decent song.
Track 2 – The hook on this song snagged me immediately. The lyrics mesh really well with the melody.
I really like the drummer on this one. He accents the cymbals just enough to add the right amount of dynamics without getting in the way of the song.
Track 1
The Mod and I have had discussions regarding our common affection for that running-out-of-breath-stream-of-wordsthatruntogether approach to vocals. It works really well here!
My only problem with this song is that it doesn’t feel finished when it’s over. The new part that ushers in the ending feels tacked on, and comes too early. I like every part I hear, I just disagree with the structure. These are hard problems to solve.
Track 2
There’s something Nightfly-ish about this (and yes, Peg comes to mind, too), or it reminds me of the theme to WkRP in Cincy (in a good way).
This is well written; these chords are perfect for these lyrics. This song is about wanting to color outside the lines, but not having the guts to do so. So I like how everything is contained. It works. I have a few quibbles…just quibbles, they are.
There’s a new vocal track in the second chorus (saying “but tomorrow,” which is a nice touch, content-wise, because, you know, tomorrow will be different and all that, right?). I don’t know…it seems a little too cute to me…like it was put there for the sake of having a more complicated vocal arrangement. I imagine the make of this tune struggled with that…how to cut it, how to mix it. It sounds a little cluttered, especially in its early position. We’ve only gotten to hear the clean version of the chorus once. I was looking forward to just hearing it again, but before that can happen, we hear “but…”. It feels like the producer’s “inner Brian Wilson” has gotten his hands on the controls and somewhat compromised the clarity. I get that it mirrors one’s inner dialogue, but that only matters if it works sonically. And for me, it doesn’t. If it must come in as early as the second chorus, it either needs to be an octave higher, or it needs to be panned hard, away from the other vocal.
I’m usually fond of guitar breaks that mimic the vocal line, but this time around I’m not digging it. Maybe if it were more languid, less choppy, had some Duane Eddy feel to it. This is a highly subjective thing, of course.
I’m IN LOVE with the synth in the pre-chorus and think it should be mixed higher.
Technical note: watch out for those “K” sounds. The ‘k’ in “*K*ick myself in the ass” would make a vinyl pressing plant send this back. Even someone mastering this for CD might make you remix it.
Two more strong efforts. This would be a cool album.