Another Year In Pop: 17

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Biggish week this week - lots of Poptimists favourites and non-favourites on show here!

[Poll #1178937]

Comments

[koganbot]

Five ticks! Is that a record? (I don't know and I'm too lazy to look.)

Wiley "Wearing My Rolex": I like how by his desperately serious demeanor - you can almost hear his eyes darting from side to side - he never lets on that he's being riotously funny. GLEEFUL TICK.

Pendulum "Propane Nightmares": Starts with nicely blown Mexican cowboy Morricone horns, followed on by really disappointing lameness from the singer, and the bass 'n' bosh that comes to the rescue isn't enough. NO TICK.

Adele "Cold Shoulder": Violins go sweet on one channel and pissily pizzy on the other, to a good hot-and-sour effect. Voice has too much Tash and Amy Imitato-Quirky Respectability, but I rather like this. Rhythm tickles her toes, she almost rocks out; sadly, the impact weakens as this goes along, and she should have varied from her nasal highs. So, not as good as its promise, but gets my TICK.

The Script "We Cry": Drums and bass give this as much commitment to dance as to message. More listenable than I'd feared. But fear aside, I'm not excited. Everything depends on the chorus, which has some emotional pull but not enough. NONTICK.

Ashlee Simpson "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)": This would be some kind of musical breakthrough if anyone would bother paying attention, which in the U.S. is not happening at all (got played in Arizona and south Texas and nowhere else, didn't even reach the Top 120), but Top 40 in Britain is a nice start. Will it hold on? She's delightfully out of her brain, catchy, hilarious, goofy, with her emotions and anguish strong enough in the margins to make this feel. Is its own dance pop, doesn't hew to anyone else. MASSIVE LUNA-TICK!

The Hoosiers "Cops and Robbers": Too self-conscious in its "funniness," and the fast and fun rhythm undercuts its actual swing and sway by far too much, but I won't claim there's no viscera here. And it is kinda fun. Worse than it should be, but it's a TICK.

Robyn "Who's That Girl": Pissy white girl goes cute and frantic, would own this week's Frightened-Eye Award if Wiley hadn't jumped in ahead of her. But she is wonderful. WIDE-EYED TICK.

Wombats "Backfire At The Disco": Wait, didn't I review this a year ago? Yes, here it is: "Compliment misfires, results in dance-floor tragedy. [5]" Guess that's not a tick, though this isn't the worst thing I've ever heard.