I Know You Like Me - Pop/Punk with Josh Coleman !!UPDATED!!

[Casey H]

Hey all
This is a first WFH mix of a pop-punk song Josh Coleman and I did.

** NEW VOCAL (by Joe NoseRing) AND MIX 12-03-14 **

The original target was a la Blink-182. I'm not sure (as much as this rocks IMHO!!) we're in that ballpark, pop/punk youthful enough, etc.

So... Do you think it is in that ballpark? If not (1) what might you do differently? and/or (2) what ballpark/a la is it more like?

Brutal honesty totally cool!

Thanks!
Casey

UPDATED LINK:
https://soundcloud.com/caseyh/i-know-yo ... -2/s-kJvGS

I Know You Like Me (Hurowitz/Coleman)

VERSE 1
You mess with
My mind when
You lean in close and then
You touch me
I’m ready
There’s no next move

Your eyes speak
So much more
Than you are ever saying
Wide open
They don’t lie
Why are you playing?

PRE-CHORUS
Your flirtations drive me wild
I’m the one who makes you smile
You can’t hide
You can’t hide
You can’t hide
Desire

CHORUS
I know you like me
You’re telling all of your friends
That you like me
With every signal that you send
I know you like me
Let’s stop this game of pretend

VERSE 2
The air is
So heavy
With this romantic tension
When I try
You pull back
When will this end?

Maybe you
Were hurt bad
And so you gave up trying
It’s time to
Let go now
Stop this denying

PRE-CHORUS
CHORUS

Instrumental

CHORUS (Breakdown)
CHORUS

[songmaster]

Hey Casey

I like the youthfullness of this song. I am not familiar with Blink-182 but this song reminds me of Reliant K song " Be My Escape ". Lots of energy and very contemporary. I think this would be good for one of those shows like 90210 ( I know it's not on anymore, just sayin ). This seems like a departure for you as far a genres go, but I know I like it

Tom

[Casey H]

Thanks, Tom!

Casey

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Casey and Josh, I think you're definitely in the pop-punk ballpark, but here's a few things I'd do to make it more like a Blink 182 song:

1) Drums in the verses could use more "punkiness" with a faster beat and a punk rhythm. Right now, your drums are more rock than punk.

2) The vocals (is that Josh?) are a bit to "mature" sounding for this genre. Pop punk is usually youthful with some caterwauling out-of-pitch whiny (almost nasally) tones coming from the vocalist. Those pop-punk singers weren't all that great, but the character of their vocals always screamed "young punk". You'd always picture an 18-20 year old singing, just due to the immaturity of the voice.

Of course, fixing either of those issues might involve tracking a new drum part (if you recorded real drums) and finding a new vocalist who's still in high school and has a piercing in his nose. Might be impossible - or at least pretty hard - to do. That being said, this is a really cool song. And if it wasn't for you mentioning that you wanted it to sound like Blink 182, I would have just said "Sounds great!".

~~Matt

[Casey H]

Thanks Matt!

I share your concern that the vocal might sound a bit too mature for the target.

Best,
Casey

[andygabrys]

sounds like Peeyo on the vox. good job.

I think it works, but I don't really get the feeling of power - from the band that is. The pop kinda punk stuff (a la Blink etc.) does have some polished vocals - but for me….

the drums are polite - add some parallel distortion
the bass sounds round with little attitude - add some parallel distortion
the vocal could have a little more attitude - add some parallel distortion

for me the mix is unbalanced too. check out Blink 182 What's my age again. Close enough for a mix ref.

the bass and guitars need to come up a fair bit - the guitars more than the bass to get them to sound big and wide.

my opinion…...

[Casey H]

Thanks Andy!

Yea, my gut was telling me that it's a really solid song and production & performance but needs changes to be pop-punk enough. Your feedback was spot on!

Casey

[bobporri]

Casey,

Good song. Drums sound rather muffled to me (compared to some Blink 182). I think everything in the chorus drives (for lack of a better word) more than the verses. Good guitar riff in the verses though. The vocals just seem to blend with everything better in the chorus whereas in the verses they sound rather stark. At about the 2:00 point I felt things sort of dropped off a bit too much and seemed a bit empty. Definitely a kick butt chorus.

Bob P.

[shorttonpro]

Hi Casey,

Here are my thoughts:

Drums:- Maybe a 16th note pattern on the high hat in the verses, gives it a quicker feeling and more energetic.
-Probably best to layer in Slate/CLA type samples as is typical for the genre.
-Brighter/less muddy and more grit

Definitely more volume on guitar, compromise by bringing vocals down.

In the bridge you could consider filtering/radiozing the lead.
Cool backgrounds throughout. They could stand to come up.

The genre to me is more 90's pop-punk/pop-rock. Modern pop-punk is indeed quite polished (All Time Low, Forever the Sickest Kids, The Summer Set). Introduction of synths, super produced etc... Doesn't mean you need to change your song's style of course, just for categorization.

I do agree about the vocal sounding a bit mature for the song (though I have the opposite problem where everything I sing becomes pop-punk whether I want it to or not). But overall, a nice pop-rock track that should turn out nicely with some more polish.

[LamarPecorino]

Totally dig the song! I am not very knowledgeable about this genre, so I can't offer any worthwhile insights. However I think that the song is great!!