The Singles Jukebox

Brand new sound…

[Video][Website]
[6.90]

Will Rivitz: Ever since Cherri Bomb linchpin Julia Pierce took her guitar and aural sneer away from the band, remaining members Miranda Miller and the Lovelis sisters have been struggling to find their groove. After absorbing guitarist Casey Moreta and re-forming as Hey Violet, the group — no doubt in large part thanks to the influence of boy-punk heartthrobs 5 Seconds of Summer, on whose label they currently reside — pumped out a few milquetoast pop-rock jams, songs that approximated Cherri Bomb’s rebel-yell spirit without really figuring out how to properly replicate or build on it. “Brand New Moves” is Hey Violet’s first step away from snotty pop-punk, and it’s their first song that stacks up properly with the work of their former incarnation. It’s a disco-lite sex jam with oodles of smirking charm, Wild Beasts’ “Get My Bang” with gender-swapped vocals and synth tremors replaced by chunky bass guitar. I was on the brink of giving up hope for Hey Violet until this song came crashing down — now I’m excited about their prospects as they further explore their place in pop. If you hear this blow up the pop charts come fall, don’t be surprised.
[9]

A.J. Cohn: If “Brand New Moves” doesn’t hit quite hit the same sugar-rush highs of Hey Violet’s pop punk great “I Can Feel It” this smoky, riffy disco number definitely succeeds. The track is a lovely ode to sexual exploration and discovery replete with charmingly awkward come-ons. Pitch-perfect teen pop.
[8]

Katherine St Asaph: As little as I cheer the move of any band away from pop-punk, the market disagrees. But moving toward “Hella Good” is not so bad at all. A tentative, anxious “Hella Good” headed for disaster shouldn’t work either, but anything’s possible. Could use 25 per cent more song, but that’s a quibble.
[7]

Edward Okulicz: The groove is loose-limbed but the vocal’s tentative and uptight. I’m not sure if I mean the latter as criticism; Rena Lovelis is singing like her new moves are nothing more than a bluff, but if you can’t relate to that or dance to this, you probably don’t have any moves.
[8]

Jonathan Bradley: Rena Lovelis, with her effortful metaphors about locks and keys, is not a convincing coquette; her come-ons are too jejune to match the strut and swagger of the bass rumbles backing her up. The chorus clarifies matters. “Since the last time we danced I’ve learned some brand new moves,” she sings, measuring each syllable out to underline what’s actually changed: not her, but her confidence. Seduction is performance, and, ideally, intent counts more than execution. Lovelis is feeling herself; good for her.
[6]

Will Adams: Opening with a line as worn-out as “I’m the lock and you’re the key” is a clever trick; it’s not long before Lovelis takes control of the situation, locking on her target to try out these brand new moves. The song’s pacing is a bit laissez-faire, leaving no room for anything more than two verse-chorus sections. It does make me wonder if there’s an extended version floating out there, where the disco rock gets an instrumental break, and there’s time to put action to the lyrics.
[6]

Cassy Gress: Ostensibly, this is a sort of a darker, more overtly sexual version of Olivia Newton-John’s “Tell me about it, stud.” But rather than using her sexuality to get what she wants, Rena Lovelis uses her sexuality to express dominance and power, ramping up the darkness almost like she is a witch seducing a man into her cauldron. 
[7]

Alfred Soto: Chugging Ameri-indie track with a vocalist who sounds like a peeved Lorde.
[6]

Patrick St. Michel: Blah blah, indie rock is dead; blah blah blah no wait it isn’t… whatever side of this goofy narrative you find yourself on, one truth is that early ’00s sounds and visuals are ripe for the plucking by pop acts tired of the ’80s. The “Brand New Moves” video is the most obvious nod to this, but the music — guitar-centric but something you could sway to; repetitive; flat in a not-caring-is-cool sort of way — is every bit as indebted to the time. “Brand New Moves,” like the similarly rock-indebted “Cake By The Ocean,” is a radio-ready approximation of music that is barely 15 years old at this point. But unlike Joe Jonas’s joint, Hey Violet fail to find anything interesting in their song.
[4]

Peter Ryan: It’s a recycled Groove of Ages, but this band of teens has hit upon a potent variation. I’m too boring now to be into “when you treat me wrong it’s so right,” but “since the last time we danced I learned some brand new moves (I wanna try them on you)” transcends stodginess, will always be relevant.
[8]