No one mentioned Something Corporate…
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[5.50]
Iain Mew: “If you are sad, don’t listen to slow songs” says the chorus. It’s life advice and if you put it in title case, it could be a Fall Out Boy song! Which isn’t a bad description for “Don’ts Don’ts”: Fall Out Boy in lower case; emo without the emo, or at least emo observing itself from a distance and trying to find a happier way to be. I mean, listen to it! The pre-chorus sounds like The Spice Girls, the way the guitars and drums lock in and out of step gives it a giddy momentum. The guitar solo even rocks out in a way that suggests it shouldn’t be played without a big grin, despite the video’s inclinations otherwise.
[8]
Alfred Soto: Hortatory call to avoid sad songs: shrewd advice, powered by those chugging guitars and the sort of juiced up chorus that Fall Out Boy fans will recognize.
[6]
Anthony Easton: Around 11 today, I bought mango juice from the corner dep in a mostly francophone neighborhood in Montreal. They played Chuck Berry, but it was a part of this BBC doc. This sounds like that feeling.
[7]
Patrick St. Michel: Hey May Day, can I buy you a Coke? You really helped me out over here with your new song. See, I was all ready to spend a long time deciding whether you guys messed up by totally bending to the whims of Coca-Cola for this song, or whether it’s even possible for Taiwan’s most profitable band ever to “sell out.” You dudes are Coca-Cola Taiwan’s latest “brand ambassadors” and you aren’t subtle about it in the video for this song — and that’s before the track ends with the Coke jingle. OK, I know you guys had to include that (Japan had a similar promotion earlier this year, with five artists making five junk songs that had to include those notes). Is it wrong of you guys to take Coke money (probably not, though ya’ll don’t need it)? Does it totally suck that you agreed to sacrifice your artistic vision to include that jingle (yep)? It isn’t a simple discussion… but thankfully, I don’t feel bad about disliking “Don’ts Don’ts” because even before that dumb sound comes in you establish this is the sort of go-nowhere, cheeseball rock that was all the rage in the ’90s.
[2]
Brad Shoup: That’s not a fun title to pronounce. Neither is it a great song to follow through the nu-disco thicket. At least there’s the intro, which has some promise, and there’s the part where the singer descends to melodic base camp.
[4]
Jonathan Bogart: Silly alt-rock that takes itself too seriously isn’t any worse coming from Taiwan than from anywhere else. It’s not any better, either.
[6]