Say Lou Lou – Hard For A Man

“It never really peaked above “slog” for me.”

Tim: You were bored by the first track of Say Lou Lou’s that we featured, and only mildly enthused by the second – let’s see if this’ll push any buttons.

Tom: Well, it’s caused a reaction at least, but sadly it’s “well, that’s a racket”.

Tim: Oh.

Tom: I don’t think I ever recovered from that seemingly-discordant introduction.

Tim: See, I kind of agree there, because that and the first (and only) verse may be a bit of a slog, but it quickly picks up for that first pre-chorus, carries on and by my favourite moment, when the second chorus kicks in, well, it just keeps going.

Tom: I’ll grant you that by the final chorus, at the end of the middle eight, perked me up a bit, but it never really peaked above “slog” for me.

Tim: I wouldn’t mind a bit more variation in the lyrics – yes, love’s hard for a man like me, I GET THAT so can we move on please – but I can’t fault the production on here at all. Overall, very happy.

Saturday Flashback: Avril Lavigne – My Happy Ending

“Maybe she’s just making her way through heavy ’00s rock bands”

Tim: This week, Avril Lavigne announced, via the traditional method of an Instagram post, that she and Chad Kroeger were separating; seems an appropriate time to wheel this out, I’d say.

Tom: Topping Mika’s Happy Ending is going to take some doing. But then, she was there first: this is now more than ten years old.

Tim: Partly because, well, “so much for my happy ending”, but also because this was the first song she released that indicated a heavier sound – Let Go was a very pop album, and the lead single from Under My Skin was in a similar vein. This, though, well, it’s almost a sign that she and Chad were destined to be together, isn’t it?

Tom: Well, I wouldn’t go that far. It’s a bloody good track, though; it basically sums up that mid-2000s angry-pop phase really well. Not sure about that destiny, though.

Tim: Fair point – probably more that she and Sum 41 lead singer Deryck Whibley were destined to be together, but then they broke up first, and then she started with Chad. Maybe she’s just making her way through heavy ’00s rock bands, I dunno.

Tom: Smash Mouth next, then?

Tim: Fine by me. Whichever she eventually chooses, I’m sure right now she’s sitting on the floor, back against the wall, bottle to her lips, and listening to this track. Though hopefully not reading this write-up.

Cape Lion – Oh Girl

“It’s noisy, but I like it.”

Tim: No, I don’t know what the name’s all about either, but they’re Swedish and they’ve come out with this.

Tom: Well that kicks in right from the first beat, doesn’t it?

Tim: Oh yes, and then my first thought on hearing that chorus was “bloody hell, NOISE”, partly because of the constant wall of sound rather than just standard drumbeats, and also the way it starts out almost sounding a bit white noise-y.

Tom: Mm. I wonder how much of that is MP3 and YouTube compression, and how much is the producer absolutely crushing all the sound? It’s not quite so bad that it sounds like all the other instruments get quieter every time there’s a bass kick, so I’m going to suspect the former.

Tim: I guess you could be right, but anyway it soon becomes a bit more melodic, and come the second chorus (alright, second listening) I’m prepared for it and it all sounds pretty good.

Tom: I’m surprised how catchy I find it: with slightly different production, I could see myself liking this a lot.

Tim: Well all in all I like it as is. It’s noisy, but I like it.

Paul Rey – Good As Hell

“Wants to have a bit of a boast.”

Tim: As ‘PJ’ he was a rapper a few years back.

Tom: So was one half of Ant and Dec. I’m assuming that this PJ’s moved on to another career too?

Tim: Indeed – with a rebranding as Paul Rey, he’s a pop singer, who right now wants to have a bit of a boast.

Tim: To be honest, though, I don’t begrudge him that because he seems a nice enough guy and it’s nice when people are happy (even if it has taken him several years to get over someone). Despite giving up the rapping, he still seems very much leaning towards the speaking side of pop rather than singing, though I’m fairly sure that works in his favour. The lyrics are much easier to pay attention to, and for a large part they’re all the song’s about.

Tom: That’s true, but if you’re doing that, you really need the rest of the song to be somewhat melodic, or at least a bit catchy, and I just don’t think it manages that.

Tim: Oh, really? Because come the second half of the chorus, TUNE, so I suppose really this song has everything it needs. Some would no doubt care for more —

Tom: You’re right there.

Tim: — I’m happy as it is, though.

Miley Cyrus – Dooo It!

“Yep, it’s Vanity Project Time!”

Tom: Remember when We Can’t Stop came out, and we thought, “this is a bit of a trainwreck but a really catchy song”? And when Wrecking Ball came out, and we thought, “the video’s a bit of a trainwreck but it’s a really well produced song”?

Tim: YES.

Tom: Well, she recorded the new album for $50,000 in her own time, didn’t get her label involved, and dumped it onto Soundcloud without any warning. Yep, it’s Vanity Project Time!

Tom: It’s a trainwreck!

Tim: Oh that’s…that’s just…oh, I feel violated. Eurgh.

NGHT – Redefine

“Space Disco. Enjoy.”

Tim: New in the Europlop inbox, NGHT (no idea on the pronunciation of that) are a new project from some of the members of The Ark, off Eurovision and much other Swedish success.

Tom: I’m going to choose to pronounce it as a sort of strangled scream. Nghhht.

Tim: Extra guff tells that they take inspiration from New Order and The Human League, and they reckon they’ve got a Galantis-style sound. Saving the best for last, we have a new genre: Space Disco. Enjoy.

Tom: That’s not a new genre, that’s the worst excesses of the 80s. Oh dear.

Tom: Yep. Worst excesses of the 80s, repackaged for the nostalgia-heavy 10s.

Tim: Okay so first off we need to talk about those lyrics, because I don’t know what the sod they’re going on about with heads full of lead, technocolour blindness or synergy becoming the enemy.

The chorus kind of makes sense, or at least it would if this came across as a usual boy to girl song, except with stuff like spinning wheels having new deals I can’t help feeling a bit like they’re trying to redefine actual humanity.

It’s a laudable goal, I guess, since you clearly think there’s something wrong with it, but while pop music is very powerful and important, there really are better mediums to use.

Tom: They’re not so much nonsensical as anti-sensical. That’s a word, right? As for the music: I don’t know. Yes, it ticks all the boxes needed for the 80s-revival that’s going on, and that will continue to go on about every ten years from now until the heat death of the universe, but it’s not actually all that entertaining.

Tim: That aside, it’s a whole lot more of an interesting lyric video than yesterday, and musically it’s exactly what it’s setting out to be, so I’ll have it; I just can’t help feeling that they’re aiming a bit high.

a-ha – Under The Makeup

“An exceptional string section.”

Tom: I missed this coming out a couple of weeks ago. Yes, this is still the original A-Ha, with the original members, even thirty years on.

Tim: Huh. Okay.

Tom: They’ve got a new album, and the lead single appears to be a Bond theme. Well, a second Bond theme anyway, they’ve already done one.

Tom: I nearly wrote this off during the introduction, but I’m glad I kept going: that chorus is wonderful. I know I’m a sucker for string sections, but this is an exceptional string section.

Tim: Yes, it is…but I there’s a reason you almost switched off, which is that there’s not much else to it. I don’t mind, because you’re right, and with the strings it really is very very good, if we ignore the Feeling Good similarity.

Tom: Is it the incredible synthpop that everyone associates them with? No. Will it still be played thirty years on? Probably not. But as a lead single, yes, this will do nicely.

Tim: Yeah, I’ll take it, with the caveat that I’ll want more from the album than a lot of violins.

Saturday Flashback: Frankmusik – Confusion Girl

Tim: Glorious Pop Middle Eights is an interesting theme for a playlist, but alas we are not privy to the whims and workings of the Apple Music people who served it up to me; nevertheless, this song was on there and I was reminded how flipping brilliant it is.

Tom: That… was there a middle eight in there? Because that doesn’t deserve to be on that playlist.

Tim: No, and to be honest, a lot of them don’t – certainly not when compared to some we’ve seen, but regardless of that: well, this is flipping brilliant, all of it.

Tom: You really think so? It left me cold: it’s a bog-standard indie-pop track, with not much to recommend it.

Tim: Oh, really? It’s just got so much to it – I think it’s almost the pitch of the lyrics more than anything. He’s got Donkeyboy style vocals going on, but with so much more joy to them.

Admittedly I had to look up the lyrics to work out what he was singing in the “part of her game” bit, but with the music, the lyrics when you work them out, and the Holly Valance in the video because why not, it’s just happy and great and joyous and everything. LOVE IT.

Tom: Side note: you know when TV shows do flashback episodes set in the ’80s, and it’s really easy to make everyone’s hair big so it looks suitably retro? Imagine how much trouble they’re going to have for flashbacks set in the ’10s. Good luck faking an undercut.

Tim: Also, he’s got a new album out in October, so look out for that why don’t you.

Spector – All The Sad Young Men

“A British version of the Killers?”

Tom: Technically, this single came out a while ago, but the album it’s from just got released — and it’s a damn sight better than the second single, so I reckon it counts.

Tim: Meh, semantics. Let’s hear it.

Tom: And not that I want to prejudice your opinion, but: a British version of the Killers?

Tom: Not as polished as the Killers, I’ll grant you, but they’ve not had half a dozen albums to polish it. There’s a lot of promise here, even if it’s not going to be the same euphoric response that came from early Killers tracks.

Tim: Hmm, potentially – someone once told me that the best thing about Mr Brightside was that every member of the member of the band played as though they were the frontman, and to be honest I’m getting a similar vibe here, at least after the break that comes at 2:14. If it was like that from the word go, I’d be right with that comparison.

Tom: “I know nothing ever really stared with a kiss” doesn’t exactly help the comparison, either, because let’s be honest, Mr Brightside was a much better track than this.

Tim: Let’s be honest, there are few tracks you couldn’t say that about.

Tom: And as for the video: well, again, we’ve got the same sort of thing going on. Essex isn’t exactly the same as Las Vegas, is it? When you sound so much like another band, you need something to set you apart: and I’m just not sure it’s here.

Tim: Oh come on, you can’t really knock them for that – there’s a budget to consider, and a small division of a big label won’t be handing out big cash to a new band. Whatever the video’s like, though, this has got me looking for that album, so I guess it’s done its job.

Shaggy – GFY

“Unsurprisingly, this is not the lead single.”

Tom: We heard this when we were in Norway; Shaggy’s now actually released his new album and is doing the press tours rather than the “anyone who’ll pay” tours. Unsurprisingly, this is not the lead single.

Tom: Which is a shame, because it’s really catchy — more than the actual single — and the fact it’s sweary will help it stand out, too. And in a world where Cee-Lo can have an international hit with something in the same profane-but-uplifting genre, I reckon this could have done very well in the UK.

Tim: Oh yes. I’d wager, though, that not even Shaggy himself predicted the success he’d get with I Need Your Love, mind, so it’s easy. But yes, I can certainly see it happening, for reasons varying from the style itself, the singalongability and the general message.

Tom: Listen to that middle eight! You’ll remember the crowd, hearing this song for the first time, singing along to those na-na-na-hey bits. This is exactly the sort of not-quite-novelty song that’d do very well in clubs when the DJ isn’t being too serious, and it’d grab enough attention, if given airplay, to get itself nicely in the Top 40. It won’t get that airplay, and that’s a shame.

Tim: I don’t know – this could still be a second single, because you’re very right. In fact, I remember the crowd singing along to the second half of the first chorus, and you’re right, this is the perfect song for people wanting to shout up at their boss, and who doesn’t?