‘Sip a Fizzy Pop’ was also a recent addition to the EP as we had been struggling to hone another song, ‘Chasm Fever’. The sound I had in my head for the song, based on the writing style, was once again ‘Arctic Monkeys’ with their 4th album ‘Suck It and See’. I’ve always liked the bright sound of the songs, that had a mix of shimmery guitars and vocal harmonies.
We started, as usual, with recording the rhythm guitar as the basis for the song. I played my Epiphone Dot through the Vox amp of the studio and set my guitar to the treble pickup for a brighter, punchier sound. This was recorded with a Shure SM57 which was the same microphone used on Alex Turner’s parts for that album. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul11/articles/james-ford.htm (LO3) Even though it was on a clean setting, with a bit of hall reverb added (a personal preference of mine due to the sound of ‘Suck it and See’), the higher volume of the amplifier caused it to have a bit of drive (not distortion) to the part – another technique used by James Ford.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxNSjppLWeQ
Pat performed a 12 string guitar part which consisted of picked arpeggios, starting in the chorus and continuing throughout. His playing was very reminiscent of Roger McGuinn’s style of ‘The Byrds’. This is something that I will address in mixing to get that jangly sound that they achieved. (LO3). A new addition in the song came about with the use of hand percussion. My friend, Jack, came down to play on the session and performed an acoustic guitar part, a piano line in the bridge and a guiro part. We decided to record all of the parts at the same time – myself and Pat using egg shakers, Jack using a guiro and Adam hitting a tambourine. We all stood around a AKG-C414, placed in the live room to pick up the reflections and made sure we stood well back as read in our research into how to record percussion. https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan08/articles/qa0108_5.htm We performed a few takes of the percussion, due to the odd timing issue, although we knew it was only going to be a background part so we didn’t stress about it too much.
Lyrics:
You’ve got your scissors to cut out the middle man, stick him on your collage, bury in the sand
The never-ending fizzes of your cola can, forms a new mirage that swallows up my hand
Fizzy pop, can I have a sip? Effortlessly suave, pursed around your lips
Dizzy drops, effervescent drips, fizzy pop, winning lucky dips, fizzy pop
You’ve got your incomparable romanticism, dreams of paradise, palm-tree poeticism
An admirable set of euphemisms, meaningless advice, dick-hedonism
Fizzy pop, can I have a sip? Effortlessly suave, pursed around your lips
Dizzy drops, effervescent drips, fizzy pop, winning lucky dips, fizzy pop
Would I be a fool to even try? Am I too late to realise?
Would you like a tune? And you reply ‘depends on the phase of the moon tonight’
My eyes are sore for such a sight, angel delight
Fizzy pop, can I have a sip? Effortlessly cool, pursed around your lips
Dizzy drops, effervescent drips, fizzy pop, winning lucky dips, fizzy pop
You’ve got your never-ending sunshine optimism, the oozing cola cans, are they still fizzing?
An optical delusion, a prism, amusing epigrams, your eyes do glisten
Fizzy pop, can I have a sip? Effortlessly suave, pursed around your lips
Dizzy drops, effervescent drips, fizzy pop, winning lucky dips, fizzy pop
Personnel:
Oliver Cobbin – Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Guitar, Percussion, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Production, Mixing
Adam Thraves – Drums, Tambourine, Production, Mixing
Patrick Delamere – 12 String Electric Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Jack Kenny – Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Guiro