Feb 2022 indie emo punk glitchcore lofi
A sad lament for a departed item that I never used for its intended purpose. Also @circle challenged me to mess with my vocals, and my favourite album of the year so far (yes I know it's very early) is full of this kind of vocals so HELL YEAH formant shifting.
Kind of a sad song, but don't worry, I've already replaced the exercise bike with a new armchair and one of my cats LOVES it.
You can actually hear the guitar going out of tune during the one-take guitar solo but it seemed to fit the self-destructive vibe of the song, so I didn't try again.
You wanted more, I assume
Than a place standing idle in the corner of the room
And, I suppose
That all you really did was hold my half-clean clothes
yet still your absence feels like an attack
did I think that on your saddle I would see her riding back?
I couldn’t turn the offer down
I just liked having you around
you know what I’m like
I’d have never used the exercise bike
It's easy to criticise
The fact that I don't too get much exercise
But all that stuff
that I hung from you still fit me well enough
but you can’t see the future, can you?
and I can’t put a price on sentimental value
@chipwithrow Mar 2022
Wild song - that's a strange and delightful vocal effect, and a big rock sound! Swell guitar solo at the end.
My exercise bike is similarly unused - out on the porch. Used it a lot the first couple months of lockdown, spring 2020.
@pippa Mar 2022
I really like this, it's weird. I kind of feel like it's the bike doing the singing, but it's you, and the "you" in the song is the bike.
@kiffa Mar 2022
The vocal effect was unexpected, but I love this! It's such a great idea for a song and the lyrics are perfect. Maybe next year, I'll take a shot at "Requiem For An 8-Track".
@balancelost Mar 2022
This actually reminds me of Juliana Hatfield as much as anything, probably cos of her rigid commitment to rhyming couplets. Those big sweeping reverby guitars sound really great. I notice a lot of people (well, you and Ad) are taking influence from @circle this year. Yay
@mosley Feb 2022
Haha I love the lyrics on this one! This is great
@siebass Feb 2022
Really funny topic and well executed. Woe be the earnest exercise equipment purchased with hopes and dreams only to be left to their own dark devices. Great chorus in this. You can hear the guitar dying in the solo, lol, very fitting.
@miltz Feb 2022
When I first heard the vocals I wasn't quite sure about the effect, but it grew on me. I enjoyed the solo quite a bit.
@cowboydick Feb 2022
Wow ... an amusing story at first (to which most of us can relate) until that one line blindsided me: "did I think that on your saddle I would see her riding back?" and it becomes a lovely and sad metaphor for lost love. The musical squall underneath provides the perfect emotional bed.
@hamiltonpoolhall Feb 2022
I remain astonished at how FAWMers like you and @karlsburg crank out these full-blown productions day after day around here. This is such a great idea for a song and the lyrics hit all the essentials in a most concise way. I also love that loopy outro guitar solo!
@tfish77 Feb 2022
Woah so cool!! What a beautiful and hilarious lament. The vocals work brilliantly.
@brisk Feb 2022
This is a really nice piece of work - formant shifting, if that's what it is, is so alienating and artificial - and *funny*, but its also very enjoyable. Love the scratchy solo - I didn't even notice it going out of tune, I'm bad at stuff like that. The words are stellar. I am intrigued to know what you are talking about - is Claire Rousey the heavy user of this kind of pitch shifted vocals? Interested to hear that.
@frenchcricket Feb 2022
This is a blast. Top lyrics — all that stuff / that I hung from you still fit me well enough is a great couplet. Damn - is this the altarboy plugin? Sounds so Claire Rousey (assume that was the album you meant)! That solo is so cool and I can't decide if the tuning makes it, or annoys me haha.
@shortdan Feb 2022
Ha, great concept and top lyrics as per usual. That solo drifting out of tune is actually super cool - shades of Graham Coxon for me maybe? Anyway- this one's loads of fun *clapping hands emoji*
@ayehahmur Feb 2022
I keep thinking I should get an exercise bike, but I know exactly what would happen to it... as you've just so perfectly illustrated.
It's a grand wee song though. Toes are tapping, and I'm already singing along with lyrics I've never heard before in that massively melodic chorus. Lyrically it hits me right where I live, but I'd still belt it out of the car windows on the way to the McDonalds drive thru.
@adforperu Feb 2022
FAWM says this is "1 day" old, yet here I am worried that I've STILL not listened to this one, as it' been up "ages". This is a real earworm, I don't have tonnes of reference points, but the 100 gecs/Katie Dey vocal treatment is such a cool effect when done right, as it is here. That solo is cracking, and I LOVE that it goes out of tune! Almost like you've thrown that through the LittleAlterBoy too (now there's an idea I need to try...). For something so seemingly trivial, those lyrics are brilliant too.
@itneverhappened Feb 2022
Great short, sharp lofi powerpop track. Love the guitars and nice dynamic between the verses and the chorus, The distrorted vocal is cool but I would like it even better if a second (normal) voice doubletracked it on certain parts, I think. Just a thought.
@loveonamixtape Feb 2022
Love the distorted vocals -- such a fun experiment! Especially because your voice is so distinctive and expressive, it gives it such a different feel. Love that little guitar flourish with those strummed chords. I agree about the going-out-of-tune guitar solo, it kind of works perfectly? Giving me bit of Chapel Hill 90s indie rock vibez with, yeah, a bit of Cure with those big, sad, juicy guitar strums in the beginning. The lyrics are excellent -- "did I think that on your saddle I would see her riding back?" is a particular oof of a line.
@owl Feb 2022
Ahh I love this one, the processed vocals make it sound super different, the melody is super catchy and the story is a wonderfully sad little vignette that works perfectly with the sound. Glad you kept the guitar solo despite the going out of tune, it works great with the energy of the song. I listened to this three times in a row!
@rayboneor Feb 2022
You pulled it off: you did write a sad lament for your exercise bike, and you made me feel it. Minus that cool vocal, this could go on a Cure album, it's so jangly and catchy and full of emotion
@circle Feb 2022
yes, yes, yes
of course the vocals are great, big black dresses/katie dey/100 gecs vibe. just the right level of formant shift and autotune, I love it. the production is also super cool - catchy lo-fi fuzz pop greatness. aside from the vocals I think my favourite thing here is the way the drum fills perfectly bring up the intensity of the chorus and make it slap
@paulh1237 Feb 2022
A slight pop-punk vibe, some catchy with the rising chords alongside "I'd have never used the exercise bike". Solo is amazeballs. Weird hows stationary bikes are for exercise specifically, unlike those pesky ones whose wheels rotate.
@judypie Feb 2022
Haha awesome dude! My home gym is frequently used as just a serious of elaborately shaped hanging mechanisms :D Love this!
@chriddof Feb 2022
Really good. The pitch shifted vocal sounds like a little cartoon character is singing it!
@dugganensis Feb 2022
Oh my sugary power-pop goodness! Great melodies and lyrics. Funny and sad at once. The loose, lo-fi guitar shredding is awesome and expressed that frustrated energy well. What a bop.
@tomslatter Feb 2022
This made me smile. Great vibe, fun lyrics, some nice guitar playing and the vocal effect kinda works.
@itoarazi Feb 2022
Let's get an F in the chat for your machine, boys! I loved this...the guitars rocked me, Amadeus!!
@thedutchwidows Feb 2022
The shifted vocal works really well! Is there a less-formanted harmony vocal in the chorus? I think I can hear one, and if I can hear it, it sounds great! If I've imagined it, you should put one in; it sounds great! A cracking song, and a fitting tribute to your machine. Armchairs are objectively better though. I have a rowing machine that never gets used, so to avoid any guilt, I keep it in a dark garage where I can't see it.
@robynmackenzie Feb 2022
The surfer rock vibe of the guitars is just great! The vocals remind me of "Still Alive" from Portal, with some more edge. Rockin'!