Haunted Mansion (demo)

Synthy nerd rock about goth kids who find love at the happiest place on Earth.

Features: juvenile lyrics, appalling slant rhyme, corny synth solo, sloppily-sung harmonies.

It's not really finished, but I came up with this in the shower the other day, and I'm leaving (for Disney World, no less) on Wednesday morning, so I figured it would be nice to have a demo done by then. Here it is. I'm fairly pleased with it, for the most part.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by uncleozzy (6 comments total)

Ha ha, I love the SPOOKY synth.

My favorite part is the "black dress" section. Funny and catchy!

OMG
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:14 AM on September 22

Ha, you know, I hadn't thought of that synth as being specifically "spooky." I just love linking the mod wheel to just a little too much vibrato and playing it with my left hand. I was going to use a more Moogish patch, but it didn't punch through enough, so I made it a bit glassier.

Someday I'll make some arrangement changes to make the song a little more dynamic, and probably replace the solo, but sometimes you just want to put something down, you know?
posted by uncleozzy at 8:17 AM on September 22

but sometimes you just want to put something down, you know?
I hear you, sister.
This is a great track. "I found love...or something very much like it" is awesome.
I have to confess that, given your previously established ability to create believable facsimiles of a wide variety of musical styles, I'm never entirely sure if your vocals are an ironic take on the faux-California-y singer type of music that's played on radio stations with the word 'Edge' in their name or if it's your regular voice. That's not a dis; so sorry if it sounds like one; it's more like you're good at what you do...I don't know where the irony (if it is) stops. Or like someone is so good in a role that you think they really are that.
Does that make sense? Sorry if this offends.
And the sort of Cars meets Weezer thing is right on.
posted by chococat at 7:19 PM on September 24

You know, it's not quite my natural singing voice (it's a bit more breathless and nasal), and it's not particularly like my speaking voice (my accent is a bit more flat). I learned a long time ago that I can't, and don't, do "earnest" songs. So everything is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and comes across in this "voice." That said, the more I think about this song, the more I think that I could bang out an album like this in a week or two. Maybe I will.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:46 AM on September 29

Everything about this is so right-on that it's a shame this isn't on heavy rotation. The synth solo is really funny, and the "other black dress" part is hilarious. I like that it gently makes fun of the people and the scene, but evokes the exhilaration of being on a ride like that with someone you're into.
posted by umbú at 11:50 AM on September 29

Nice, tight and catchy. My kids would LOVE this and would try to copy it for sure! The synth part is good but as you've stated before could use some tweaking a bit to pull the highs out. Nice. I want to hear more of what you do.
posted by Mz_Jai at 2:16 PM on October 7