Monday, November 11, 2002
every year, there are one or two purely perfect pop singles, the kind that give you cavities but you can't stop eating. and they're usually by artists I'm embarassed by. to wit: this year's premiere entry is "crush (1980 me)" by darren hayes, the former lead singer of savage fucking garden, for pete's sake. it sounds like how I imagine souldecision might if they went uptempo - souldecision having made last year's perfect pop single in the form of "ooh it's kinda crazy." the chorus is chewy like a tootsie roll, the vocals on the verses ping back and forth between your speakers (this is the epitome of a headphone song), and the lyrics reference seemingly every single cultural artifact (and catchphrase: "choose life," "just say no," et.al.) of the early '80s without feeling gimmicky. and the keyboards on the verses remind me of yaz. not to mention that hayes' voice, so cloyingly annoying on songs like "truly madly deeply," sounds liberated without the restrictions of being the air supply of the '90s; uptempo tracks serve him well.
as I said, souldecision were responsible for last year's most perfect pop. their debut album, no one does it better, has got about 4 such gems (the single "faded" also amongst them), on which they sound like the natural heirs to george michael's legacy, circa faith. justin timberlake is increasingly seeming as if he might well be not the "new" michael jackson, but the second coming (no bad puns, please) of george michael himself. his is music that straddles the pop/r-and-b divide so effortlessly as to make such distinctions irrelevant. "like I love you" is jacko-tastic, true, but it's also its own thing (helped out by one of the neptunes' best production jobs of '02). and for the record, justin is to george as usher is to jacko.
most of the last five years' pop perfection has come from the teenpop brigade getting lucky, one song at a time. last year's other treats were justin-and-company's "pop" (their skittery, bouncing-off-the-walls pop raison d'etre) and puffy machine-made girl group dream's "he loves u not" (cowritten by one of the guys from the system! c'mon, you remember "don't disturb this groove"! right?). 2000 had christina aguilera nailing it in the form of "come on over baby (all I want is you)" for no good reason, and jessica simpson. yes, jessica simpson. "I think I'm in love with you" is the sound of 80 degrees, clear blue skies, the top down and the wind blowing through your hair, all coming through your speakers. it's also the sound of "jack and diane" recontextualized for a generation of kids who don't know who either of 'em are - that interpolation of the mellencamp guitar link is ace. simpson's vocal is so damned sunny as to nearly be annoying, but not. it also sounds honest in a way that most teenpop sounds smarmy and untrue. delicious.
other subjects for future (past) listening: 5ive's "let's dance" (basement jaxx makes a boyband), britney's "I'm a slave 4 u" (do you think she's a nasty girl?), jennifer paige's "crush"/donna lewis' "I love you always forever" (no, you don't remember them, nor should you. just download 'em), and backstreet boys' "everybody (backstreet's back)" (the sound of a new swedish invasion [remember when?], and their only decent song ever).
as I said, souldecision were responsible for last year's most perfect pop. their debut album, no one does it better, has got about 4 such gems (the single "faded" also amongst them), on which they sound like the natural heirs to george michael's legacy, circa faith. justin timberlake is increasingly seeming as if he might well be not the "new" michael jackson, but the second coming (no bad puns, please) of george michael himself. his is music that straddles the pop/r-and-b divide so effortlessly as to make such distinctions irrelevant. "like I love you" is jacko-tastic, true, but it's also its own thing (helped out by one of the neptunes' best production jobs of '02). and for the record, justin is to george as usher is to jacko.
most of the last five years' pop perfection has come from the teenpop brigade getting lucky, one song at a time. last year's other treats were justin-and-company's "pop" (their skittery, bouncing-off-the-walls pop raison d'etre) and puffy machine-made girl group dream's "he loves u not" (cowritten by one of the guys from the system! c'mon, you remember "don't disturb this groove"! right?). 2000 had christina aguilera nailing it in the form of "come on over baby (all I want is you)" for no good reason, and jessica simpson. yes, jessica simpson. "I think I'm in love with you" is the sound of 80 degrees, clear blue skies, the top down and the wind blowing through your hair, all coming through your speakers. it's also the sound of "jack and diane" recontextualized for a generation of kids who don't know who either of 'em are - that interpolation of the mellencamp guitar link is ace. simpson's vocal is so damned sunny as to nearly be annoying, but not. it also sounds honest in a way that most teenpop sounds smarmy and untrue. delicious.
other subjects for future (past) listening: 5ive's "let's dance" (basement jaxx makes a boyband), britney's "I'm a slave 4 u" (do you think she's a nasty girl?), jennifer paige's "crush"/donna lewis' "I love you always forever" (no, you don't remember them, nor should you. just download 'em), and backstreet boys' "everybody (backstreet's back)" (the sound of a new swedish invasion [remember when?], and their only decent song ever).
# posted by Thomas : 11:40 AM
