wongusamongus:

6. Frodus - The Earth Isn’t Humming

Directionless
An open sea
We’ll watch as time tumbles down

Anyway, I will preface this by saying that even though Thrice is my favorite band, their cover does no justice to Frodus’ original. It’s played perfectly, note-for-note, but so much of what I love about the original is lost when played acoustically. That recognizable Frodus bass fuzz (TM) - otherwise known as “Entwistling” (because is there really a better term to use?) is present, but more importantly, that electric guitar tone. I don’t know how Shelby Cinca does it, but there’s this really neat echo-y effect in riff 2 that I really dig (It’s kind of present throughout the song, but especially there). More explanation on what I mean by riff 2 right NOW.

When I listen to this song, it’s very odd what goes through my head. There aren’t many songs I can think of off the top of my head in which I consciously break down the song ahead of time into different sections. Obviously this isn’t really a song written with a pop sensibility in mind (I mean the bass is a KILLER hook, but there isn’t a chorus and whatnot), so the way I see it, the song is broken up into different sections that are repeated at different times (DEY R VERSES HERP DERP), and the way I see it, these different sections are indicated by the riffs that Cinca’s playing. I’m too lazy to indicate when these riffs change or anything, but I think if you hear it, you’ll “get me”. Riff 1 is the opening riff, riff 2 is the echo-y riff that follows, etc up until riff 4.

But enough pointless rambling. The point is, I want to know how to create that tone on the second riff. It really accomplishes getting that sort of ‘ominous’ sound across, and as far as I know, I can’t think of another song that does that same thing.

Ominous music is made when you feel that the band is at the verge of ending while in the studio. Frodus circa 1999. The Church “Priest = Aura” (last record for their major label), Bauhaus “Burning from the inside”, etc.. etc…

(Source: borisukawaii)