Take all your money and then disappear

Big thanks to Conor for letting me know about this song!



Round & Round (Single Edit)

I can be pretty odd with my reactions to songs sometimes: in one case I'll love the verse and bridge but be completely let down by the chorus and so completely write the song off, in another I'll just key in on and love one small element and that's enough to leave me feeling positive about the whole song. Take the new US5 single, for example--despite the fact that the German-based boy band is already three years and two albums into their career, I don't think I've heard more than a handful of songs by them, so even though I loved "Rhythm Of Life (Shake It Down)" from last year, I don't think you could really say I've got a preexisting inclination to be especially positive about their work.

That said, though there are elements of "Round & Round," their new single leading into their third album, that don't work for me--the dorky spoken section in the middle by (I presume) their British member, for example, always forces me to fight off laughter--I think I could forgive just about any boy band sins just because of how much I love the sound of the "that girl means trouble" and "she's not your lover" lines in the bridge. Really odd thing to care so much about, right? I mean, it's not a particularly distinctive or innovative (or memorable for most people, I imagine) melody there, nor are those lines really a huge part of the song, but I adore them.

Elsewhere, despite what the flashy video might make you think, the song's an unassuming synth-based mid-tempo boy band song--unassuming not in a bad way, but in that it's not really in your face and that it's making no claims that it's some revolutionary song to make boy bands cool again (though for the record and speaking beyond this song, just because a song isn't claiming to be revolutionary doesn't mean it isn't). That may still sound pejorative; all I'm trying to get at is that it's a song that seems comfortable with itself (save for the "must mimic Justin somewhere in here!" "yeah"s that open the song [thankfully the song goes its own way after that] and maybe that aforementioned part in the middle 8 which feels kind of try-hard to me, albeit in such a goofy way that maybe it's not meant to be taken seriously...which means I'm already coming around to appreciating it in that way), which is a thing I like. I don't think US5 as a group are at the point yet where "comfortable with themselves" and "not try-hard" can be applied to them (who designed this cover? seriously?!), but let's hope musically they continue to move in that direction; at the very least, it'd be nice if they'd continue making songs as great and enjoyable as this one.

To buy US5's single "Round & Round," go here (physical) or here (digital). Since it's a new single, it'll only be posted for a short time.

Also, two other comments about US5/this song:

1.) Just to really destroy any chance I might have had at being taken seriously in my enjoyment of the song, the one that based on their website I think is Chris is looking pretty good in that video in a dewy-eyed young Jesse McCartney kind of way, no?

2.) Given the whole Richie scandal (world: which one?), maybe a line like "she'll take a taste and then she'll throw you out her mouth" should have been reconsidered. Actually, if you're thinking about the lyrics at all, maybe it should have been reconsidered, but then, I like how the sounds of the words fit in the line, so I'm not really complaining.

In unrelated news, Ola's new single goes to Swedish radio next week! I really hope it's good... The re-release of the album comes out May 28.

Next up: maybe that other Belgian singer.