The Singles Jukebox

“Good” for some of us, “grief” for the others…

[Video][Website]
[5.62]

Claire Biddles: As insipid as the title promises it will be.
[2]

Katie Gill: I love it whenever those indie bands that only had one massively popular song release a single that firmly tells you they’re not the indie equivalent of gray anymore. This is a bright, peppy, energetic jam of maniacally missing someone. Considering the overall sedate nature of Bad Blood (their last album that I listened to), I’m so happy that Bastille are doing something that’s just pure fun! Just don’t ask me what the hell the Weird Science quotes have to do with the song.
[8]

Madeleine Lee: This is weird, but I don’t actually know what “Pompeii” sounds like. I remember seeing the words “Bastille” and “Pompeii” on a car radio’s song identification scroll multiple times, but I don’t associate it with a sound. It’s weird because listening closely to “Pompeii” reveals that it’s a well-written and dynamic song; still, I couldn’t hum it back to you after it finishes. Similarly, “Good Grief” has lots of pleasing hooks and an interesting structure, but all I remember after it ends (besides the words “I miss you”) is how nice and spacious the drums sound. For a song that’s going to get played a lot regardless, being enjoyable but ephemeral is probably a point in its favour.
[5]

Hannah Jocelyn: Strangely, the first song this makes me think of is “Leonard” by Sharon Van Etten, and the way she builds “I am bad” into “I am bad at loving” into “I am bad at loving you.” Bastille utilize a similar technique here, waiting until the ending to combine their two hooks into one monster chorus. It obviously doesn’t have the same impact as Van Etten’s conclusion, but their willingness to subtly play with song form makes the last minute that much more satisfying. In fact, the problems here lie not with the actual writing, but with the somewhat lifeless production of Mark Crew, who apparently never told the band “hey, that chorus needs a bass line too.” It’s a shame, because that “watching through my fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingers” line is still a hell of an earworm.
[6]

Abby Waysdorf: It doesn’t have the epic camp of previous Bastille hits, which is what I always liked about them (and made me a booster despite prevailing sentiment), but then about the second or third listen I found myself singing along in the kitchen anyway. By the fourth I was dancing. What felt like slightness at first is revealed as a pleasant summer bounce reminiscent of the English Beat, perfect as the weather finally — finally! — ticks over to pleasant in this part of the world. No one wants drama in the summer, anyway. 
[8]

Alfred Soto: Without the video no one would have noticed this song unless its listeners wanted to discuss how The Fray + Big Country can meet at Yalta for an unholy alliance.
[2]

Brad Shoup: Finally, a 1975 for lames like me! The kind of lame that makes me dig up a Jamie Lidell Stylus review and look up the plot of Weird Science. It yearns and sighs and keeps “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” in the monitor.
[7]

Scott Mildenhall: For all this song’s confusing, vague suggestions of a concrete context, it’s at its best when it reveals itself to be uncomplicated. The details are so all over the place that some must have fallen off the lyric sheet, but if there’s one thing Dan Smith knows about, it’s encapsulating a feeling in a hugely accessible and memorable chorus. It might be ostensibly directed at one person, but it seems very much intended as a cathartic channel for millions.
[7]