Unfortunately, today we are sold out of both fun and games.
[Video][Website]
[5.62]
Alfred Soto: The vocal has energy more suited for an electronic rendition of the Guns ‘n’ Roses number.
[4]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: The four ladies of Neon Jungle are in an odd position, with their third single functioning as their third introduction. Each member is allowed to move where they see fit, building on the snotty effects of “Trouble” and the cooler approach displayed on “Braveheart” to hit identifiable vocal runs and the occasional rap. And even though the song admirably simmers more than it bursts into beats, it still feels like a mission statement. I worry they may need to continue making mission statements until they break through.
[7]
Jessica Doyle: So I have this not-so-secret fondness for a K-pop group called Ladies’ Code, who debuted about a year ago with the lovely, witty “Bad Girl,” and that was enough to win them large measures of my affection even though each of their subsequent three singles has been worse than its predecessor. I now feel the same way about Neon Jungle: I like them — I like them a great deal — I am quite happy to revel in the open-armed, wry, bratty shouting of “Trouble.” But I don’t know who listened to “Braveheart” and said, “Y’know, we should make the rap break longer, and slow it down.” The score for the song alone would be a [4]; I am adding two points for the video, which is delightfully Female-Gaze-y, and not even enthusiastically so: for a song that’s supposed to be about overt female heterosexual desire, our heroines are wholly bored when confronted by half-naked writhing male dancers, and only perk up when they get to perform while lounging on discarded airplane seats or dance with their friends. Long may the Neon Jungle party go on! But not rhyming “party” with “Ferrari” (abbreviated) and “safari.” Better will come.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: “Welcome to the Jungle” relies on its club-as-rainforest metaphor to make it stand out from every other zippy, slightly sinister late-night pop number, mainly because the music itself isn’t compelling. And so, Neon Jungle sing about a stranger who looks like a big cat, something about the food chain and a painful chorus rhyme of “growl” and “prowl.” Those are the parts that make sense, before the group detour to make an A$AP Rocky joke (does he deserve that kind of attention?) and take us on a “pussy-poppin’ safari.” Just kinda forced.
[3]
Iain Mew: Their most enjoyable neon single yet, full of bright slogans on a dark background, and it’s always nice to be reminded of Kernkraft 400. After getting so used to K-Pop girl group singles where the rapping is a highlight, though, it continues to be especially disappointing how momentum-killing all of Neon Jungle’s equivalent bits are.
[6]
Will Adams: Three singles in, and it’s still a thrill to hear a mainstream pop group working with sonics as banging as this. Unfortunately, the distended rap breakdown drains the momentum from a song that was already on the edge with its disjunct sections.
[6]
Scott Mildenhall: “Trouble” was daft, not even transgressive enough to get Neon Jungle’s grans stressing, but, like with “Braveheart”, they sound so at home in a darker atmosphere that it’s easy to overlook how “down” doesn’t rhyme with “growl”, “la-di da-di, hands on my body” is a bit silly and the whole enterprise is again close to an Example song with female vocals. Beguilingly threatening, and through lack of obvious chorus, constantly threatening more. Why wasn’t this their first single?
[7]
Edward Okulicz: It’s amazing how a terrific synth hook like on “Welcome to the Jungle” can support the heaving mess — no, heaving messes — on top of it. The titular line is neither menacing nor enticing here, so it can’t tie together all the loose threads of generic dance pop in a satisfying way, even if it is kind of cool by itself. This is one of those songs that might benefit from being disembowelled, augmented and eventually turned into two other songs.
[4]
Crystal Leww: I want black girl bands to be a thing again, but dropping a rap interlude with references to ASAP Rocky and A-Trak in 2014 is absolutely the way to show that they are a thing of the past. This would be a bad entry into EDM-pop even if this style were still in fashion. It’s trying, but it’s messy and doesn’t know what to do with itself.
[3]
Brad Shoup: What an age, right? It’s a girl-group track with a decent Eurodance synthline, yet I wouldn’t mind if everyone flowed for the length of the song. The thump of the drums don’t hurt.
[6]
Megan Harrington: This maintains the formula of “Braveheart” without offering anything new. But it’s a good formula and Neon Jungle benefit from the considerable advantage that no other group shares their strengths. I especially like Jess’s understated delivery of the title line which goes a long way to cut the sugariness of EDM laced with hooks and verses.
[7]
Anthony Easton: At the Université de Montréal there is this giant old convent that is now a main building, which has a central long building and two slightly shorter wings, in a modified H shape. It stands at the top of the mountain. Standing at the top of the central wing, it seems like the entire building is collapsing down the mountain. The effect would be more pronounced if the fence was not there, but the effect is startling. There are supposedly also foxes and coyotes on the mountain as well. This song is like if a coyote or fox sat exactly in the middle of the vanishing point of that vista and stared at you.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: Buzzy, dated dark pop, like a dress you bought in 2011 that’s got holes in the fabric and that’ll get you mocked in subtweets maybe if you wear it, but that you never stopped liking.
[6]