Catdaddy original: soundclick bullet or bust? You tell me

Keep That Monkey Tied Up

This is an acoustic rock original. Would appreciate any feedback on it. All opinions welcome. Thanks in advance for listening!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=599346

Through the computer speakers, the mix is a little trebly, especially the guitars. The vocals are a bit low, it seems, but maybe if the guitars were a little less in the vocal space, the vocal would come through. A more prominent bassline would do a lot to even out the herky-jerky rhythm.

I like the lyrics; usually a song about a monkey has deeper meaning, however, it appears yours does not. I'm thinking Half Man, Half Monkey, Everybody's Got Something to Hide..., Monkey Man, Brass Monkey, etc. You've bucked that trend, and actually written a song that's about a monkey. There is dangerous water out there--pick you topics carefully.

On a completely unrelated note, my grandfather had two orangutans in the 70s that would frequently escape an terrorize the quiet beachside community I grew up in. My uncles would have to wrangle them back into their cages, often using garden hoses. So I may be able to relate to the song more than most.

I really liked the guitar solo, and I liked the contributions that the solo guitar made throughout the last verse.

Man, I really liked "Cars Will Rust". Very Leon Redbone.

this is tight for me. it's a simple package tune without too much fuss. very well done.

i like the vocal approach you take (an example would be 'some fun' out of the first chorus)

yeah, that guitar solo is very cool - the tone might be a bit too 'buzzy' for me - like direct recording does often. i would 'soften' it a bit with eq and maybe a chorus/flange. i don't know - play with it.

i also like the second voice alot. very cool dance with the first voice and nicely inflected.

overall, man, good work. the theme is almost goofy, but the simplicity of the tune kind of supports it for me. like 'i would walk one thousand miles'

Thanks Chicken Monkey and bluesway for your input. I know the sound quality of the recording is not the greatest especially in the low fi mp3 format on soundclick. I agree that it sounds too trebly and I should probably boost the bass track some. I'll work on tweeking the guitar solo with some eq and compression.

It was gratifying to hear that the song held your interest. As a writer that's all I can reasonably hope for. And CM thanks for the comment on Cars Will Rust! Yeah I think Leon Redbone could cover that one.

Thanks again guys!

Chimpanzees are extremely strong, especially for their size. I remember reading a news story about a couple who kept chimps as pets - everything was great for many years, and then one day one of the chimps, with no warning, attacked the woman and basically ripped her face off. Animal control wanted to put the chimp down, but the couple wouldn't do it, and even got a special dispensation from the zoo to bring the mauler chimp back to the house he was raised in so they could throw him a special birthday party.

I don't really have anything to add above that anecdote. The song is great: I liked the buzzy slide solo, the lead guitar that comes up after the slide is super-slinky, I loved the harmony vocals and cowbell on the chorus...

Only slight quibble is that the snare drum in the verse is a little too loud at the start. The acoustic guitar locks in with the snare pretty quickly, so the snare doesn't stand out so much, but in the first measure or two it is a distraction.

I also listened to Cars Will Rust (it's the first song listed on the page, and I wasn't looking at the post). Not as uptempo as Monkey (I'm a rocker myself) but another excellent song.

I also like that buzzy monkey slide. That's a fun song...my only constructive criticism would be that the slide solo ends with a major triad over a minor chord in the rhythm, which is not a good sound to me.

Listened to "Cars Will Rust" as well...I love the lyrics. Good tune.