The Singles Jukebox

I mean, I can understand losing to Huddersfield, cos they’re a good side, but Swindon?…

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[5.13]

John Seroff: Teddybears managed the difficult feat of being ubiquitous if not famous; in the US at least, there was about a year where “Cobrastyle” was integral to every movie preview and sports drink ad on the tube, but I still don’t have the slightest idea how many people are in the band, much less what they look like. Phenomenal popularity without paparazzi attention is at the heart of this very hip-hop meditation on the aims and joys of success. Swirling cross-cut color wheels of keyboards, clipped cymbal splashes and workmanlike folksong guitar churn together a Summer-size serving of disco-flavored soft serve. I would’ve welcomed a few extra syrup swirls though; “Get Mama” uses up pretty much all its ideas and variations in the first minute. Even so, who could resist a hot weather treat that’s this refreshing?
[7]

Tom Ewing: This song seems to imply the Teddybears are from a parallel universe where music still requires a physical format, indeed one where said format is extremely hard to transport. So Europeans wanting some of that “pop music” stuff would have the choice of either paying for very expensive imports or buying a cheap and locally-produced version. The local brand wouldn’t be much good: where pop swings it would chunk, where pop sparks it would bluster. But it would just about do if you had never encountered the imported kind. And if someone who WAS familiar with the good shit heard it – why, they’d probably think it had a certain kitschy charm.
[4]

Martin Kavka: This is Swedish for “Black Eyed Peas.” Everything sounds better in Swedish.
[6]

Anthony Miccio: I was grateful to this song for making me imagine Manu Chao remixed by Justice, but now I’m just pissed off because that remix doesn’t actually exist and this is a relatively dull substitution for it.
[5]

Martin Skidmore: The keyboards swirl with fair energy, and the power chords are nearly powerful.
[5]

Alex Macpherson: For a song whose only point seems to be its misguided commitment to some empty idea of wacky perkiness, “Get Mama A House” is an oddly joyless irritant. It buzzes around like a midge for three minutes, but the urge to swat arises well before its time is up.
[1]

Anthony Easton: Any more than 90 seconds would be annoying, but at that limit it is both aspirational and charming, with a tight chorus, and a solid refrain, plus dig those 8 bit digital bleeps.
[7]

Talia Kraines: Repetitive, yes, but utterly blissful.
[7]

Chuck Eddy: They say “mama” like Boney M in “Bahama Mama.” And when they tell her they’ve sold out all over the world, you can’t tell whether they mean “sold out” in the standing-room-only sense or forfeiting-integrity sense. So anyway, this seems good-humored. Yet oddly incomplete — with only half a tune, and half a groove, if that.
[6]

Tal Rosenberg: Melody’s catchy, but sounds a lot like the Dandies, doesn’t it? The lyrics are about as vacuous as the Dandies as well, but there’s the weird Daft Punk/Justice French house axis guitar-keyb run and the amateur-level Todd Edwards cut-up glitch vocals. Combien élégant! Is that right? I Babelfished it. Also, if I had a bag of money from the Yakuza, I’d buy fast food stock instead of buying mama a house. I mean, in this market?!
[5]

Michaelangelo Matos: Make sure it’s soundproofed, son.
[4]

Additional Scores

Hillary Brown: [7]
Matt Cibula: [4]
Ian Mathers: [6]
Kat Stevens: [3]