And another Stragglers work in progress:
Circus
Switched the link over to Soundclick.
Hiya Ian. This sounds pretty good. Drums are too far back again, sound phasey 
Spoils a really good song. Give em a tweak mate
Cheers
Phil
I like the song ā the chord progression, the melody, and the words. Iām not overly fond of the arrangement ā once again, a bit too busy on the bass. Also ā not to suggest a complete reconstruction of your fine tune ā Iām imagining a version that āswingsā abit more, instead of the straight eighths going on here. What I mean is a sixteenth note on the kick right before the downbeat of 3 that would impart of a bit of āgrooveā to it. Try it on a bar or two and see if you like it
And yes, Iām not really fond of that Chris Lord-Alge snare treatment. I like a snare that sounds like a drum, not a firecracker 
Also
I see the album is available for download nowā¦ so, if you make changes to this song based on feedback, would we be stuck with the earlier version?
Drums too low? Really? Okā¦will re-assess this end. Not sure about the āphaseyā sound - I bet THATāS a Bandcamp crap stream issue! 
A bit of a swing you reckon? Hmmmā¦ hadnāt considered that. Might be worth experimenting with I guess.
if you make changes to this song based on feedback, would we be stuck with the earlier version?
I update the tracks as I go, but if anyone happened to dāload a tune now Iād happily offer an updated mix if and when that occurs. Actually thereās still one complete song yet to comeā¦ one which will quite possibly the best tune of the entire collectionā¦ more on that once I have the final mix. 
I like the song, it has a retro charm to it somehow.
i think it can be improved in a couple of ways.
Donāt like the drumsā¦but you saw that coming. 
Opening kick is way woolly, then it improves a bit half-way
thru the first verse. Any changes in there? Or Iām just hearing it
strangely. Still, itās hairy. The snare sounds synthetic, like a TR-909 through
some degrader plug. Almost an 80s sound. It doesnāt fit the āacousticā descriptor of your act
or overall feel of this tune. I listened to this track yesterday, but not
critically. Are these the same drums? 
More crucially, the whole track sounds like itās doubly compressed and limited.
It sounds rather dirty here and very 16-bit-ish.
The right-side acoustic has the top C in the F chord out of tune. Re-track that?
Like the energy and, again, like the vocal delivery.
Hi Jet 
Wellā¦ pass. Itās the same kit Iāve used on most of these Stragglers tunesā¦ Steve Slate āAbsolute Rock Kitā or the other one that features sometimes is the āAll American Kitā. Mix seetings are constant throughout.
More crucially, the whole track sounds like itās doubly compressed and limited. It sounds rather dirty here and very 16-bit-ish.
Iām guessing thatās partly a Bandcamp stream issue. I might have to switch over to Soundclick as Iāve had to do previously. Again Iāve been very conservative with compression on all these tracks generally. Iām completely puzzled that past works (pre-Stagglers) which was far more heavily compressed and yet never once (as far as I recall) received comment. Now, with my compressors generally wound back on these tunes I seem toi attract āover compressedā comments. Buggered if I know why!?
By the wayā¦ I was wondering what specifically gave it the āretro charmā to your ears? I like the idea of sounding āretroā but I have no idea what it is that makes it sound that way?
Alsoā¦
Switched the link for mix2 over to Soundclickā¦ just in caseā¦
The chord progressions.
Beat me to it
Hello Ian,
You just keep getting better. Like the drums and the snare sounds real to my ears. It has an inocent sound to it which to me gives the retro-sound. The laughing and group audibles at the end are perfect.
John
Trying to think how to explain why it sounds 60ās to me as wellā¦ yes, the chords, but also the rhythm and the phrasing. Good sound I think. I donāt notice too much compression, but Iām no expert on that sort of stuff. The snare does sound like it comes from a couple of decades later, though.
Thanks guys.
The laughing and group audibles at the end are perfect.
Ahhhā¦ thatās good to hear. We did wonder whether their inclusion added value or whether perhaps they were just an unnecessary distraction.
Anyway, whatever the reason is that it sounds retro thatās all good in my book. In fact we decided to class what we do as āretro pop/rockā. I think āretroā is reasonably fashionable at the momentā¦ isnāt it? 
Weāre actually going to change part of the lyrics in the chorusās too, so I really must get round to re-singing those partsā¦
Cheers!
Like the song Ian, sounds fine to me on the iMac speakers, balance and mix OK .Like the style, seems very contemporary for nowā¦lot of new bands sound a bit like this. Good job.
I like it. Itās a good song with a tasteful and well balanced production. Got a bit of a Kinks vibe to it.
One thing bugs me. On the high harmony vocal on the line āWeāre all insaneā - on the underlined syllable he sings the notes Eb/F/Eb/D.
Iād make that D/F/Eb/D. That first Eb note is a bit too much tension for my taste.
Lenny
Cheers Peter!
That first Eb note is a bit too much tension for my taste
Actually Iāve also got a fairly substantial tremelo on the BVās - all in the interests if trying to create a somewhat maniacal vibe. But as it happens itās that part of the song that I am actually intending to rework. Because we already have a song called āInsanityā we decided to replace the word āinsaneā in this song and substitute it with āderangedā Iām also planing to drop the vocal repeats of this word as well.
And it all may be rather moot at if this one too eventuially getās the pro-studio/production treatment. Weāll see how that goes. It might not happenā¦
Thanks for the feedback.