Hard to argue with a band ballsy enough to rock this get-up in public. The Frontier Brothers up top.
And a new dawn rises- ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 2nd Annual People’s Choice Tournament. 128 songs enter, 1 song leaves. We ended up with around 140 nominations, and cut songs that we thought were too popular or didn’t fit the feel of the tourney. Sorry for those who lost nominations, but the remaining field looks fantastic and everyone that nominated has at least a song in the tourney. In the least, we’ll learn about new music from our worthy peers- which is the whole point of this thing in the first place. Playlist can be accessed at this link– gentlemen and ladies, let’s do this.
Rules: Listen to each match-up and give each song a score between 0 and 10 based on how it did versus its competitor. Here’s an example of how a set of scores might look:
Song 1: 7.5
Song 2: 6.5
I liked Song 1, but it fell from an 8.5 at the bridge- went too long. Song 2 was ok, but nothing special. Still catchy enough to land a 6.5.
Anyways, when you’ve completed all 4 match-ups, post your scores as a comment on this post. Get your scores in by 8 pm on Tuesday, August 28th. At that point we will tally and announce winners.
On a side note, it’s been a while since we’ve done a free for all like this, and I am genuinely excited. I watched Battle Royale at 6 AM this morning- what a terrifyingly crazy movie, but as it relates here, I got excited about the parallels. 128 songs enter, 1 song leaves that survives 7 rounds. Best of luck to all songs, vote with your hearts. Let’s do this.
People’s Choice Tournament- Round 1, Day 1 of 16.
Salvador by Jamie T vs.
Merry Go Round by PFR
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs.
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers
New Direction by Black Lips vs.
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs.
Dead by They Might Be Giants
Living the Dream 
7- Salvador by Jamie T vs.
6- Merry Go Round by PFR
I thought I was going to go PFR before I listened but I really enjoyed Salvador. Nice and catchy.
3- Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs.
8- Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers
Are you there Jah? It’s me, James. Today I listened to your Army, and then I listened to the Avett Brothers. Sorry ’bout your luck.
6- New Direction by Black Lips vs.
4- Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex
Black Lips were nothing new or amazing, and Avicii + Skrillex had me at the synth lady singing until the “what?” grunting started. If I wanted synthesizers and bros, I’d travel in my Delorean back to 1978 and hit up the arcade.
6- Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs.
5- Dead by They Might Be Giants
I don’t know how TMBG doesn’t win this, but they don’t. I guess it’s a Brothers sweep for me.
Salvador by Jamie T vs. 10
Merry Go Round by PFR 3
Well snap, one of my nominations is up first and I’m dropping a 10 on it because that’s how I roll. (We’re not doing the thing where we can’t vote for our own picks this time, right? I feel kind of bad about this spread but look, I’m pretty sure the only reason one can possibly like about 95% of 90s music is nostalgia. Of which I have none for this song. Also, Christian rock, I just can’t). The only reason I’d give Salvador less than a 10 is because Jamie T was like 23 when he made this incredible album, and that makes me just a little bit jealous. Anyway, I don’t really know how this song will go over here, but with this tourney I just nominated shit I really like and you can take it or leave it. But check out the music video, how cute is this?
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs. 7.8
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers 9
A line from this Avett Brothers song totally opens my online dating profile. Feel free to guess which one (no cheating). It’s been good to me, what can I say? I also like the Avett Brothers because one of them looks like Lucas Haas. I normally am not at all into reggae, but Rasta Courage was pretty and I think will grow on me.
New Direction by Black Lips vs. 6
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex 5.5
Skrillex kind of makes me want to vomit and punch things, but in a good way. I don’t pretend to understand it.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs. 9
Dead by They Might Be Giants 4.5
Whoa I like this Frontier Brothers song. I’ve never heard it before. Good movement, combines a whole bunch of interesting influences I’m not articulate enough to identify right now. Good pick.
Salvador by Jamie T 7
Merry Go Round by PFR 4
Jamie T is the pick here
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army 6
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers 6.8
I like this Avett Brothers song. This is what I’m talking about- build my playlists, friends.
New Direction by Black Lips 6
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex 6
Surprised here. I guess I like pretending I’m in the club
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers 7.5
Dead by They Might Be Giants 5
While appreciate the TMBG nod, this Frontier Brothers song is the one song in this whole set I can see throwing on a roadtrip playlist. Well done, Colin.
Salvador by Jamie T- 7.3
Merry Go Round by PFR- 6.4
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army- 7.2
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers- 6.2
New Direction by Black Lips- 8.3
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex- 7.7
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers- 8.4
Dead by They Might Be Giants- 7.1
Salvador by Jamie T : 7.5
Merry Go Round by PFR: 6.8
I gotta say, Aiko, not seeing seven points of daylight between these songs. They’re pretty similar in style, but slight not to Salvador. Felt like Merry Go Round lost some steam over its last minute.
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army : 7
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers: 6.5
I feel bad that I can’t get that into the Avett Brothers. Don’t know if I’ll always be in the mood for Jah Army, but it was great for a mellow Sunday night.
New Direction by Black Lips : 10
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex: 6.5
I didn’t nominate New Direction, but damn is it good. It nearly won a personal tournament six months ago or so. It helps that I’m looking in a new direction. “Levels” was not really my style, but I was in an open-minded mood.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers : 6
Dead by They Might Be Giants: 5
Honestly, if it weren’t up against my song that I scored really high, I would have given it a 1.
Salvador by Jamie T- 6.9
Merry Go Round by PFR- 4.1 (While I actively disliked the chorus, although I do appreciate the Merry-Go-Round metaphor. And I bumped it up .4 for the “carnival” bridge and the drum outro.)
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army- 6.8 (chill.)
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers- 10. (I was seriously thinking of nominating this song, but I figured it would be too slow for the tourney. I’m giving it a 10 although (1) it’s my second favorite song on the album and (2) I’m luke warm on the album as a whole- go figure. Even given that, the lyrics, unique structure with its interludes and breakdowns, and generally mood just make this a compelling piece of work. And it hit the spot tonight as I attempt to finalize this paper.)
New Direction by Black Lips- 7.5 (This ditty has potential to go far in this tourney.)
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex- 8.6 (Yes- I know I’m blowing all my “indie cred” on this, and I know the frats have played this album to the bone yard, but I like this one. The riffs are fun.)
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers- 7.0 (Does anyone hear a little Baba O’Reilly in the intro? But the “hey’s” actually seem more fratty than skrillex’s burps.)
Dead by They Might Be Giants- 5.0
Salvador by Jamie T: 7
Merry Go Round by PFR: 5
Salvador started out with a better score but it seemed to drag on after awhile. MGR reminded me of a really lame Guster song. Also, half a point off for the cheesy merry-go-round clip there towards the end.
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army: 6
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers: 8.5
Reggae is not really my cup of tea, but I do like Jah’s voice, so bonus for that. Love this Avett Brothers song, though. I will tire quickly of Rasta Courage, but I will probably listen to Head Full of Doubt 3 more times before I go to sleep tonight.
New Direction by Black Lips: 7.5
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex: 8
New Direction is fun. Buuuuuut, I like the Skrillex, perhaps because it reminds me of fun times with my baby sister when she lived with me this summer.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers: 8.75
Dead by They Might Be Giants: 5
Jump Blues was really good. My favorite of the night. I didn’t really like the TMBG.
[5.5] Salvador by Jamie T vs.
– Reminded me of the Arctic Monkeys, but not as good.
[4.1] Merry Go Round by PFR
-this song bored me. The little merry-go-round snippet was the most interesting thing about the song.
[6.5] Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs.
– I dig reggae, but Soldiers was sort of like an easy-listening version. Nice voice.
[6] Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers
[7] New Direction by Black Lips vs.
– This song grew on me as it progressed. I appreciate short, punchy songs in a tournament like this.
[4] Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex
– this song doesn’t seem to really know what it wants to be. If it were remixed, it would be fine for the dance floor. But it’s a bit too slow and weird right now. But not slow enough to be the sort of ambient noise I like to listen to when sitting at my kitchen table at 8am on a Monday morning.
[5.5] Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs.
– meh
[5] Dead by They Might Be Giants
– eh
Salvador by Jamie T – 7
cool song
Merry Go Round by PFR – 4
catchy, but too generically pop-rock sounding for my liking
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army – 4
i need to be in the right mood for reggae. this song did not put me in that mood.
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers – 8
this is wonderful.
New Direction by Black Lips – 7
fun. i like.
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex – 5
ohhh, dubstep. fun on a totally different level. these songs are impossible to compare, but i know there are times when i would NOT be able to tolerate skrillex.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers – 5
echoing mattb’s sentiments, “meh”.
Dead by They Might Be Giants – 7.5
yesssssssss. shortly after i got spotify, i listend to flood in its entirety for the first time in years, and wow, i had forgotten how amazing that album is. my sister used to always sing this song back in the day, and that memory makes me happy. also, tmbg was my first concert. there’s a lot of nostalgia going on here. plus, it’s just a great song, right?
Salvador by Jamie T: 7
Merry Go Round by PFR: 5
Salvador is much more upbeat, and Merry Go Round sounds to me like a rip off of another band.
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army: 2
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers: 5
Rasta Courage makes me want to vomit. I can’t stand reggae. That said, the Avett Brothers clearly dominates this match up.
New Direction by Black Lips: 4
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex: 8
At first thought the Black Lips remind me of a rip off of the Black Keys, a band that I also don’t enjoy.
Levels gives me a “good feeling”. Hah
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers: 3
Dead by They Might Be Giants:1
Jump Blues seems very lovesick to me and not in a good way.
Dead-how is this song relevant to anything?
Salvador by Jamie T – 9.5 nice!!
Merry Go Round by PFR – 5.5
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army – 10 been listening on repeat
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers – 7.5
New Direction by Black Lips – 5
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex – 5.7 this remix makes my head hurt and i love techno
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers – 6
Dead by They Might Be Giants – 6.8
rock on!
Salvador by Jamie T vs. 5.5
Merry Go Round by PFR 4
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs. 5.5
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers 6
New Direction by Black Lips vs. 7 I’m a tiny bit embarrassed that I liked this song.
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex 2 This song sounds like it was performed by robots with a testosterone deficiency.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs. 7
Dead by They Might Be Giants 3 Gee, I wonder who nominated this one…
Salvador by Jamie T 5
Merry Go Round by PFR 4
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army 4
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers 4
New Direction by Black Lips vs.6
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex 3
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers 5
Dead by They Might Be Giants 3
Salvador: 7.0
Merry Go Round: 3.5
Salvador I was surprised to find that I rather liked and even listened to it a few times al the way through although I find it disjointed and jarring at points. Merry Go Round is simply not my thing at all.
Rasta Courage 5.5
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise 5.0
RC sounds unfinished, or like a practice session maybe or like the dude was just really stoned. I dunno I guess I’d be interested in checking out other stuff by this artist but this song doesn’t blow me away. Through parts of the next song I was really engaged and enjoying the listen, through other parts I was bored out of my skull..so I award it the dreaded 5.
New Direction 6
Levels 4.0
The word “black” should no longer be allowed for use in band naming. This song sounds like it should be on a Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack (it probably is). The next one sounds like it’d be a good song to do cocaine to but sober it sorta makes my head hurt.
Jump Blues 5.5
Dead: 8.5
Seems as if Dead isn’t doing it for folks today and as its patron saint I feel the need to defend it – by most it’s not even considered the best TMBG song on this album (Flood) but I find the imagery beautiful, the melody haunting and I have a thing for guys named John who reincarnate as plastic bags. I have no idea what Jump Blues is about and the guy singing sounds like a whiny douchebag but I guess other than that it sounds pleasant enough so if ya’ll like it so be it!
Salvador by Jamie T 5.0
Merry Go Round by PFR 6.5
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army 6.5
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers 7.0
New Direction by Black Lips vs.7.0
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex 8.2
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers 3.5
Dead by They Might Be Giants 2.0
Pingback: 2nd Annual People’s Choice Tournament: Round of 128 (Day 2 of 16) | Living the Dream
Salvador by Jamie T vs. (6.5)
Merry Go Round by PFR (7.5)
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs. (8.0)
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers (6.5)
New Direction by Black Lips vs. (6.0)
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex (5.0)
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs. (5.0)
Dead by They Might Be Giants (5.5)
Salvador by Jamie T 5
Merry Go Round by PFR 5.5
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army 6
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers 6
New Direction by Black Lips 5.5
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex 4
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers 5
Dead by They Might Be Giants 7.5
Salvador by Jamie T vs. (4.0)
Merry Go Round by PFR (7.0)
Merry Go Round gets the nod because it actually sounded like music and I heard a voice.
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs. (6.5)
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers (7.0)
Actually like both but gave the nod to AB as Jah Army fell a little short of full reggae.
New Direction by Black Lips vs. (6.0)
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex (3.0)
No contest here.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs. (4.5)
Dead by They Might Be Giants (5.0)
Not a big fan of either but TMBG gave a couple of chuckles. Can it repeat? Not likely.
Salvador by Jamie T – 4
Merry Go Round by PFR – 8
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army – 4.9
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers – 7.6
New Direction by Black Lips – 3.4
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex – 5
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers – 7.2
Dead by They Might Be Giants – 4.2
Salvador by Jamie T [6.25]
Merry Go Round by PFR [5]
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army [5.25]
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers [8.25]
New Direction by Black Lips [7]
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex [4]
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers [7.5]
Dead by They Might Be Giants [5.9]
So I work with Mark Orsini and Colin Hunt – they’ve gotten me sucked into this tournament!
Salvador by Jamie T vs. – 3
Merry Go Round by PFR -4
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs. – 5
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers – 6.5
New Direction by Black Lips vs. – 6
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex – 2
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs. – 8
Dead by They Might Be Giants -7
Hey Alexis! Welcome to livingthedream.org. I guess you’ve probably heard them voting enough times over the past two years!
Salvador by Jamie T – 7
Merry Go Round by PFR – 5
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army – 6
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers – 7.5
New Direction by Black Lips – 6.5
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex – 2
I could probably dance to Levels until 3 in the morning, but just listening to dubstep doesn’t work for me.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers – 9
Dead by They Might Be Giants – 6.5
Full disclose, Jump Blues is my nomination. It’s a song that gets my feet moving and was the theme song to a friends web-documentary where he drove across the country in an ambulance named AMBIVALENCE.
I’ve loved TMBG since I first saw the Tiny Toon Adventures’ music videos of “Particle Man” and “Istanbul.” “Dead,” however, is not one of the top FLOOD songs. “We Want a Rock” and “Minimum Wage” on the other hand…
First off, I just want to say that the return of a tourney makes for a few good weeks at work.
Salvador by Jamie T vs. Merry Go Round by PFR = 6.5 to 3
Look forward to hearing Jamie T. again in later rounds. I like that there’s a bit of a weirdness factor. Is this guy going for some post-punk thing? Its almost sounds like Wire? Is it some sort of weirder Arctic Monkeys / Libertines thing? I like that I don’t know anything about him, where/ when he’s from, so have no preconceived notions.
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs. Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers = 3.5 to 4.5
New Direction by Black Lips vs.Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex = 6.5 to 4.5
There was also a band called Black Eyes from DC years back. So that makes 3, Black Lips, Black Keys, Black Eyes. Are there any others?
I appreciate the sampling of vocals in Skrillex and messing around with rythms, but I may be getting too older and ornery for genre-y electronic music. I’d have to hear this in its proper setting, not at an office desk.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs.Dead by They Might Be Giants = 7.5 to 6
Frontier Brothers – not bad!!
Salvador, Jamie T 3
Merry Go Round, PFR 5
Jamie T= garbage
Rasta Courage, Soldiers of Jah Army 7.5
Head Full of Doubt/ Road Full of Pron, The Avett Brothers 8
Both great songs. Sucks they met in the opening round.
New Direction, Black Lips n/a
Levels, Avicii ft. Skrillex n/a
I don’t understand electronic music today. I honestly don’t want to score this song. I think if I do I’m doing a disservice to someone that really likes and understands house? dubstep? If you think this is a cop out just let me know. I agree with Adam, listening to this song in my office doesn’t help.
Jump Blues, The Frontier Brothers 6
Dead, TMBG 6.5
TMBG are f-ing goofballs. Their whimsy gets the nod this round.
I’m going to hold off on the in-depth analysis of the songs until we dwindle them down further, no real point in going into to details on a song that won’t be around in a day.
Salvador by Jamie T: 5.5
Merry Go Round by PFR: 4
Salvador is decent, I just don’t see staying power.
Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army: 7
Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers: 8
Tough match-up. I really enjoyed both songs, I just have a soft spot for The Avett Brothers.
New Direction by Black Lips: 5
Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex: 3
I never have been able to get into the whole electronic genre, let alone dubstep. The reason probably being is that I got hoodwinked by an ex-girlfriend into to seeing The Chemical Brothers in “concert”. I used quotations because I paid $60 to see two guys put on a record and stand around. How is this different than the local DJ putting on the exact same record? I guess dance clubs really aren’t the best place to watch a show, thank God she knew the bartenders and for the copious amounts of free booze they provided me. I’m sure there is good electronic music, but it seems few and far between.
Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers: 5
Dead by They Might Be Giants: 7
Been a fan of the Giants for years, one of the first concerts I ever went to. Fond memories.
5.5 – Salvador by Jamie T vs.
4.5 – Merry Go Round by PFR
3 – Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs.
7 – Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers
6 – New Direction by Black Lips vs.
5.5 – Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex
So tough to judge a single Skrillex track – the full live shows are where his magic happens (and they are amazing).
6 – Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs.
3.5 – Dead by They Might Be Giants
5-Salvador by Jamie T vs.
3-Merry Go Round by PFR
Of all the Jamie T songs to select, this was the choice? It seems that if someone was looking to champion this artists footnote in the lexicon of UK music, they would have gone with something from Kings and Queens or some of my favorite Jack Penate. By itself it gets a 4. When compared to its competitor, Jamie T gets a bump of +1. Merry Go Round was just overproduced, simple, cliche crapola.
3-Rasta Courage by Soldiers of Jah Army vs.
8-Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers
I love reggae! I hate white boy reggae. The only exception is GPGDS, which has a driving rhythm section and occasional horns. The A-Bros. know how to write a damn good tune. The piano bridge is subtly emotive, just like this whole song. It has been known to cause goosebumps (gänsehaut for you Germans).
8-New Direction by Black Lips vs.
2-Levels by Avicii ft. Skrillex
I’ve never heard of the Black Lips, but that was a concise, catchy, clever punk tune. Well done. Avicii and Skrillex made over $30 million combined in 2011. This formulaic bullshit is indicative of how little our current music consumers want to be challenged or exposed to anything new. It’s tunes like this that make me feel bad for Millennials.
5-Jump Blues by The Frontier Brothers vs.
3-Dead by They Might Be Giants
The Frontier Brothers have a solid lead voice. It sounds like there might be some guitar talent in there as well. Perhaps this is just a band that needs to work on their own voice, as this song does not stand out. TMBG were popular in the 90’s and not this century for a reason.