The second of my Squeeze covers: Pulling Mussels (from the shell)

[Bubba]

You know me, when I get the urge to cover a band, I can't leave it at just one.

This is the same basic personnel as last time - Me on most things, Frank on drums. I have a guest musician on the boogie-woogie piano solo - Russ. He was meant to do some Hammond too, but he has gone AWOL. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

[Armistice]

I don't like this one as much because I'm not on it... You've done your own bass vocals! Good to see the testosterone treatments are kicking in for you.


No but seriously... it's a really good song - as a song I think I like it more than the other one and you've done a great job covering it. Love all the little high hat flourishes and I'm a real fan of that instrumental section just before the boogie piano - very simple and clever - which you've executed well.

Well done Bubs...

[rayc]

One of MANY Squeeze songs I love.
The vocals are the things that grab me on this as they replicate the original's plaintive yearning so well.
Did I mention I saw them on their 1st Oz tour in a tiny pub about 4kms from my home? Yeah, I know I did BUT I love repeating the fact as it was a great night for myself and my mates.
Excellent Bubba, excellent.

[vomitHatSteve]

Around 0:28, the vocals dip a bit, like you moved back from the mic.

Mix sounds good. Those drums are very crisp.

[stratmonkee]

Cool cover, very true to original, great job on the vocal! Great bass guitar as well!

[WhiskeyJack]

Jeeze bubs. Good job man. The drums sound really good on this one. Nice full and tight. Things are coming right along.

Very little i can hear wrong with this really man.

I struggle a bit with piano though. It is in and out of the mix and i want ot hear it but i find i have to actively listen to it for whats going on? Above and beyond that everything sounds bang on.

[JD01]

Bob, just had time to listen to this one through properly (latest reference cans).
Really think this sounds great. Drums, bass, guitars and vocal all great. I agree with VHS that it sounds like you step back from the mic in a few spots - doesn't matter though. I love the break bit from 2 mins or so, prior to the piano solo.

I suppose I should listen to the original now... I'll be surprised if it sounds this good though.

[Bubba]

I'll look into those vocal spots and perhaps the piano, but generally, thanks, guys!

[JD01]

Just listened to the first half of this back to back with the original... It sounds like the same fucking band!

[Bubba]

Just listened to the first half of this back to back with the original... It sounds like the same fucking band!

Well thanks, JD. Many people prefer if you take a cover and make it your own. When I do a cover I see it as an opportunity to learn. It's not slavish repetition, at least, that's not my objective. It's like research.

[Tadpui]

Great vocal performance and capture! And the same goes for everything else in the mix as well. It's well balanced and tight sounding. Well done!

Is it just SoundCloud trickery that's making the mids sound just a bit phasey? SoundCloud's awful compression algorithm does some weird things and makes things sound swishy and hollow sometimes. I've actually had really good luck uploading variable bit rate MP3s to SoundCloud. It seems to pretty much leave them alone instead of crushing them.

[JD01]

Just listened to the first half of this back to back with the original... It sounds like the same fucking band!

Well thanks, JD. Many people prefer if you take a cover and make it your own. When I do a cover I see it as an opportunity to learn. It's not slavish repetition, at least, that's not my objective. It's like research.

Yeah. I agree with that... that was definitely what I went for when I did the Metallica Enter Sandman cover... sort of with the Sepultura cover too, but the guitar tone on the original was awful.

[Greg_L]

I'm hearing the bulk of the drum kit leaning to the right. Center to right. Nothing happening towards the left. Not a big deal overall but it leaves me feeling a little lopsided. Overheads are a little crispy, but the overall tones of the drums themselves is really good. Guitars and bass are awesome. Piano seems okay to me. I think you did a great job with the vocals, but the vocal mix could use a little help IMO. The main vocal track seems a little mid-humped. No lows, not much air, a lot of mids. It's kind of like you tracked the vocals through a small dynamic mic. Very focused in one area.

[Lt. Bob]

Man your mixes are getting badass!
I'm not familiar with this song or band so I have no idea what it sounded like ...... but this is great!

As I mentioned on your last one it's such a clear mix where I can hear the details of each and every element of it which is a big thing to me.

Very nice work man ...... and the playing is stellar too!

[Bubba]

Great vocal performance and capture! And the same goes for everything else in the mix as well. It's well balanced and tight sounding. Well done!

Is it just SoundCloud trickery that's making the mids sound just a bit phasey? SoundCloud's awful compression algorithm does some weird things and makes things sound swishy and hollow sometimes. I've actually had really good luck uploading variable bit rate MP3s to SoundCloud. It seems to pretty much leave them alone instead of crushing them.

Thanks very much Tad. There are probably one or two Soundcloud artefacts, but nothing like as many as if I hadn't uploaded it in wav format!

Ta once again!

[Bubba]

I'm hearing the bulk of the drum kit leaning to the right. Center to right. Nothing happening towards the left. Not a big deal overall but it leaves me feeling a little lopsided. Overheads are a little crispy, but the overall tones of the drums themselves is really good. Guitars and bass are awesome. Piano seems okay to me. I think you did a great job with the vocals, but the vocal mix could use a little help IMO. The main vocal track seems a little mid-humped. No lows, not much air, a lot of mids. It's kind of like you tracked the vocals through a small dynamic mic. Very focused in one area.

I hear you on the drum kit, Greg. The recording didn't quite go to plan. Frank was supposed to go spaced pair on the overheads ONLY if he was going to mic the FT separately. Unfortunately that bit of the communication got lost - he got to the recording space to find that he was a mic lead short.

The kit is far more balanced when he uses Recorderman spacing, (one over the snare, slightly to the left, one over the right shoulder) which he did on my first couple of recent tracks. Those had really good, balanced stereo.

Not really sure about the vocal, but I've taken it on board and addressed your concerns. It could mostly be my vocal tone, which has lost some depth in recent years. I hadn't shelved any lows off at all! I've moved my presence hump on ReaEQ towards the HF end. I like it, it shows up the slight flutter of the slapback echo better.

Cheers and Thanks.

[Bubba]

Man your mixes are getting badass!
I'm not familiar with this song or band so I have no idea what it sounded like ...... but this is great!

As I mentioned on your last one it's such a clear mix where I can hear the details of each and every element of it which is a big thing to me.

Very nice work man ...... and the playing is stellar too!

Thanks so much, Lt Bob. It means a lot to get praise from you!

[paulman]

You know me, when I get the urge to cover a band, I can't leave it at just one.

I wouldn't know anything about that. I certainly have not recorded several Stones songs in the last few months, and I most definitely am not working on several others.

This sounds great, Bob. I don't know the song to compare, but this on it's own is great. The performances are all solid, and the mix is well-balanced and clear on my laptop (I'm lazy and not getting out of bed yet).

The phrase "pulling mussels" reminds me of "When I Paint My Masterpiece" by The Band. Written by Bob Dylan, but their recording of it is definitive.