Prior Conviction

January 18, 2017 9:00 PM

I made a really janky demo of a dumb pop punk song I wrote years ago and then a friend of mine laid down drums for it

I recorded guitar by plugging my garbage heap 15 watt Fender amp directly into my Tascam DR-100 via the amp's headphone jack. With guitar going into the left channel of the Tascam, in the right channel I had this ancient Yamaha keyboard playing its "Disco" beat because I still have not taken the time to learn how to program a drum machine in less that like a million hours. I dumped that over to Audition and then huddled in the backseat of my car with the Tascam, a shotgun mic strapped to the headrest, and my laptop for playback to record vocals (I live in a small house and my wife and kid were both asleep. Luckily, I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood). Two pairs of headphones wrapped around my head.

Sent all that mess over to my friend Gus who's the singer in this really great band and he recorded the drums in his band room.

Eventually I'm planning on re-recording everything but the drums. I'd really like to get a whole bunch of people in a room to record the gang vocals at the end. But for now, I'm pretty stoked about this silly song I think I recorded on my phone like three years ago.

posted by Maaik (5 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Oh man, this is reminiscent of a lot of very great late 80's indie post-hardcore stuff. It has that kinda intimate feeling of a local band that hasn't broken out yet so they're still your town's best-kept secret but not for long.

You really nail the ebb and flow of this type of song: the first instrumental break about 40 seconds is well-placed to give you a break before the first chorus; and then the next break around 1:20 hints at what's to follow, and then settles back down. Then the repetitive chorus starts, relatively softly, and building and building until BLAM, at 2:49, the resolution.

Very satisfying! Would fit seamlessly on a TAANG! compilation LP aside Mission of Burma, The Lemonheads, Moving Targets, Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr., etc.

Oh, and the recording in the car idea, so as not to wake the neighbors and family with shouted lyrics: brilliant. I am totally going to try that during my next at-bat.
posted by not_on_display at 11:52 PM on January 18, 2017 [1 favorite]


Would fit seamlessly on a TAANG! compilation LP aside Mission of Burma, The Lemonheads, Moving Targets, Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr., etc.

Oh man that is an incredible compliment, thank you!
posted by Maaik at 3:44 AM on January 19, 2017 [1 favorite]


This is really good. I think the guitar sound breaks up and is perfect for the song, it's frenetic and at the point of running away but really drives the song. The sound absolutely reminds me of 90s bands with that sense of urgency,
and without post production smoothing. Used to listen to the Llama Farmers (UK band) for instance and hear the same bursting at the seams production.

Anyway, well done!
posted by multivalent at 3:13 PM on January 20, 2017


or more to the point maybe something like Idlewild's first album
posted by multivalent at 3:42 PM on January 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


I love this! Melodic punk the way it ought to be done. Thanks so much! This actually put a big goofy grin on my face.
posted by saulgoodman at 8:48 AM on February 1, 2017 [1 favorite]


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