Alternative rock song feedback

[Musicandvibes]

Hey guys, currently mixing this alternative rock styled song. Any feedback on what to alter or thoughts on song/arrangement? Thanks.

 

[famous beagle]

Wow .... that was .... interesting.

Umm ... it's kind of a total mess, TBH. The performances were .... well ... "loose as a goose" doesn't begin to describe it. I understood exactly 0 words of the lyrics (don't know if that was the intent). Were the Jackson 5 singing? Sounds like several 8 year-old Michaels. The guitars are eating everything in the mix. But, IMHO, this whole song should be re-tracked after everyone has rehearsed their parts much more.

I mean ... I like the looseness of the Rolling Stones and all, but ... this was a mess. Sorry!

 

[Musicandvibes]

Hey thanks for the reply. Haha I’ll take interesting over dull . But yeah I can try increasing vocal and decreasing the guitar volume and see if that helps.

 

[TalismanRich]

The first thing it reminded me of was some of the avant-garde stuff that was put out in the 60's, but without the "high dollar" production. People would put out the strangest stuff, and it would sell... sometimes 10,000 copies or more. Obviously heavy drugs were involved.

As the Beagle said, the mix needs a lot of work. it's pretty much all over the place. The vocals might as well have been in Esperanto... you can't understand them at all. The theme is too repetitive, it needs something else as a bridge or chorus. Otherwise, it's like a jam session that goes nowhere.

 

[Musicandvibes]

Thanks for the response guys. I made an edit to the mix, which can be viewed at the top post. Tried changing the vocals around, ect.

 

[TalismanRich]

Slightly better, in that you can hear the vocals, but they are still unintelligible to me.

I think in this case there's just too much going on at the same time. Maybe take the approach that "less is more". Every element seems to be at the same volume. When the vocals are supposed to be the highlight, back the other tracks down a bit. The doubled vocals are also a problem if you want people to be able to follow the song.

Keep at it, I recently did 9 different mixes on a fairly basic track. I would bounce it off my bass playing buddy, then go back and tweak it some more. A second set of ears is good to have.

 

[Musicandvibes]

Updated my third crack at it. Tried to clean some stuff up.

 

[spantini]

Actually, to me, this sounds more like some 60's Motown R&B - especially with the vocals. That baseline guitar riff seems sluggish and, in keeping with my opening comment, would be better replaced with a xylophone. The drums seem to be playing a different song.

 

[Musicandvibes]

Ok I’ll keep that in mind

 

[Bulls Hit]

The groove is really dragging its knuckles on this, it's more of a lurch than a groove. I like your vocals and the changeup to the chorus is pretty cool. I would focus on getting a solid foundation with the drums and bass first and then do your thing over the top

 

[stratmonkee]

Yeah this has a different kind of groove, the vocals really hooked me though, very cool! Its a chaotic vibe for sure , love the horns(?) that swell in. I dig this !

 

[Musicandvibes]

ok decided to upload one more final version. Retracked a section. Wondering if the change regressed the mix.

 

[spantini]

Tighter, sounding better. But the drum fills are still out of sync. I like the overall groove.