Sparks – Hilary Duff – Whistling is the new 808 drum intro, it signifies both playfulness and serious pop chops. And Hilary needs them on this dreadful pop monstrosity. She should go back to acting – C-
Until We Can’t (Lets Go) – Passion Pit – I was never convinced by this bad indie dance band and here is the proof, their big return begs to be remixed out of existence – D+
Get Ugly – Jason Derulo – Absolutely atrocious when I caught him at Jingle Ball in 2013, he has one great song and this ain’t it – C-
Alive Tonight – Grace Potter is a great soul screamer but her material is uniformly weak, including this rote soul rave up – B-
All That – Carly Rae Jepsen – Sure, the “really really” song got zero traction despite repeating the hook over and over again, it is still better than this moldy pop ballad – C-
Things Happen – Dawes – I sat next to a Dawe at Summerstage during a Kurt Vile set, seemed nice enough but since I didn’t speak to him all I can say for sure is he has nice hair – C+
Tear In My Heart – Twenty One Pilot – This is the same band behind “Fairly Local”? -Wow, that isn’t variety, it is bi-polarism. Lousy emo rocker – C-
Movin’ Bass – Rick Ross – Rose! He was lousy at Beacon a coupla years ago and I’ve had serious doubts ever since, but this is pretty good. Stream it now, before Jigga tries to make it a Tidal exclusive – B-
Gates Of Dawn – Heartless Bastards – Heartfelt snooze from a band who should know better – C+
Teenage Talk – St. Vincent – A talented woman, no doubt, this is pretty and its quirkiness doesn’t ruin the song – B
City On The Hill – Desaparecidos – Nobody knows where love goes, right? Outer South was just about the end of the line for me. This is a pretty good rocker – B
