Wednesday, December 19, 2007

It's like I'm the one you love to hate

Wh-huh? When did lead singer guy Pierre from (Canadian band) Simple Plan become a different person? I'd heard "When I'm Gone" (co-written by Danja) on the radio for a while now, but not seen the band at all, until just now, when the video came on. I would never have recognized him! Not that I'm saying it's bad or good, just woah does he look different.



If you've heard them of before, it's probably for their single "Untitled," a ballad which was a pretty big hit in the U.S. a couple of years ago (well, I just looked up the chart position, and Wikipedia says it only reached #49 in the U.S., but it was a lot bigger than that makes it sound, at least among a certain age group). I preferred the bouncy, (pre)teen angsty pop-punk (which isn't a genre I have a huge affinity for, unless it's done really well, and then I love it) of "Shut Up," though--it's infectiously catchy, a very jump up and down and sing along sort of song.



Hmm...actually, why don't we just go ahead and make this today's song of the day.

Shut Up--as I said, this is energetic pop-punk designed to be jumped and shouted along with. It's really catchy and yes, the lyrics could not be any more generic teen angst (of a very young-sounding sort), but it's just somehow so fun and singalong worthy that I can't help it. I think the energy helps--regardless of the lyrics, the music is too bouncy to invite sitting around with self-pity. Toss in some big guitar hooks, and I'm sold. Pierre's got a good sort of voice for this kind of music, too, which helps avoid it getting too dull or too harsh. All in all, the perfect song to put on whether you feel liking playing air guitar, air drums, jumping around like a crazy vocalist singing into a hairbrush, or just acting like a crazy fan.

You can buy Simple Plan's second album Still Not Gettin' Any, go here (physical) or here (digital). It's also available on iTunes.

Next up: maybe that Danish singer.

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