Two appearances on the Jukebox, both solo…
[Video]
[6.22]
Katie Gill: The fact that Mary Lambert isn’t a household name is downright criminal. She exceeds at bright and cozy pop music, the musical equivalent of a gummy bear. It’s sugary and a bit too saccharine at certain points, but it’s absolutely adorable and sweet so you stomach it. “Know Your Name” is no exception. The song’s a high-energy bundle of cheer and pep, an adorably relatable song about first crushes and butterflies in your stomach.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: Solid new wavy pop-rock, like Kelly Clarkson almost went for after “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Lambert’s a really good singer, which helps.
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: Kinda like the intersection of Carly Rae Jepsen (Kiss in sound, the Curiosity EP in voice), the Pipettes, “About You Now,” and that stuttered “ah-ah” in every other pop song circa 2011.
[7]
Alfred Soto: While it sports Shania Twain’s preternatural pep and a lot of the ossified girl group tropes that killed the Pipettes, I’ve trouble imagining anyone listening to “Know Your Name” freely.
[5]
Stephen Eisermann: Mary sounds sleepy on this cutesy bubble-gum pop song, but it’s hard to blame her; I’d be just as tired if I was stuck recording a pop song with production this peppy that lacks an engaging hook. The music is so loud that Mary seemingly opted out of trying to compete.
[4]
Edward Okulicz: That fizzy pop production could have dated the song as much as that Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting arcade machine in the video. But I love some Hyper Fighting and I love some hyper crushing. She unleashes as if she knows her object of desire is looking back; she has to be.
[7]
Anthony Easton: Lesbian sex anthem that inherits what is traditionally gay male lack of inhibition, a queer ode which ramps up perfectly in time for Pride. Would be slightly more interesting if Lambert didn’t hold back — some of the talk of holding and kissing, instead of fucking, suggests an earnest coyness. The beat reads filth, the words read something less interesting.
[6]
Hannah Jocelyn: This gorgeous bubblegum pop song is probably liberating for most, but for a questioning person like me, who remains wary and self-conscious about expressing myself openly, it’s hard to hear. How much do I let myself escape into the candy-colored world of this song when we just passed the one-year anniversary of the Pulse shooting, when Judge Gorsuch’s track record is in the news? How does one forget reality for even a few minutes and enter a place where love actually is love, no questions asked, before being thrust out once time is up? Where even is this alternate universe in which being queer doesn’t have the slightest bit of sadness, guilt, or pain attached to it?
[6]
Lauren Gilbert: I hate crushes. Hate them, hate them, hate them. I hate feeling like I’m not in control, that someone I don’t really know can hold my heart in their hands. And this track is exactly the opposite, reveling in the rush, the flood of oxytocin for every first. It’s a candy-colored fairytale, without all the weight and expectations. And, yes, part of my rating here is that Mary Lambert looks like me and thinks that her affections might be returned, that she will get a chance to drive her crush wild. I need more Mary Lamberts — will always need more fat queer girls who won’t apologize and expect more than life as a punchline.
[8]