[Glice]

See, I'd say that whether a band cares or not, production is inseparable from the song. It's that thing of hearing demoes versus the finished product - it's rare the demo is better than the finished tune. It's that thing of how lo-fi started off as an 'anti-production' thing, but quickly became little more than a production preset. I wouldn't say there's nothing left to do with songs any more - but I'd also say that the differences between one three-chord pop song and another are largely down to production - whether it's choice of effects pedal or production processing thereof. Partially, this is why I'm quite precious about my own music - I fucking hate self-producing, because I'm shit at it, and I can't really afford the sort of equipment I want, and I haven't the inclination to work at it (playing takes up enough of my time as it is, without adding production to 'musical things I'm learning').

Like that Daughter of Darkness record - it's great, but there's peaks and stuff all over it that always make me wish they'd spent a bit more money on it. I think that's part of the charm for a lot of people, but I suspect it's a bit overlooked because of little imperfections like that.