The Singles Jukebox

In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey…

[Video][Website]
[5.17]

Alfred Soto: More words than guitar. I prefer my ratios… tighter.
[6]

Tim de Reuse: Maximalist pop that simmers with energy, but with a mix that sounds like mid-heavy wet laundry, melodies that never really hit a catchy tonal resolution, and no concept of tasteful restraint.
[3]

Cassy Gress: This is probably the doggone happiest song I’ve ever heard about being a loser. You’re a loser anyway, right, so why not just do that thing you’re nervous about doing? WOO! Yonezu’s lyrics fly by way too fast for me to even homophonically sing along with most of this, which lends the song a nervous energy, but it makes sense: if he’s spent 25 years limiting himself out of fear of his loserness, and now he’s owning it, then no wonder he’s ready to explode.
[7]

Claire Biddles: The verse of “Loser” manages to be both boring and hyperactive, and the jarring launch into the chorus makes it borderline unpleasant. 
[3]

Will Adams: It’s like a Twenty One Pilots song played at 1.5x, with quick guitar swipes à la The Neptunes circa 2002. That’s a pairing I could have never expected; ditto for the key change in the chorus. “Loser” is full of fun surprises, but it often sounds as if it’s about to fly off the rails.
[5]

Adaora Ede: I feel obligated to begin this blurb saying that the opening riff of this song takes me back to early noughties Graham Coxon, and that can’t possibly be a positive indicator in any world, can it? Unfortunately, I am easily swayed by a jovial ska rhythm. Still, the datedness of “Loser” is cringeworthy to the point that pure dread is dripping off of my higher than usual rating for this type of music. Really. I can’t even listen to Sublime. Aaaand there’s actually a ba-ba-ba hook in this?! Good on Yonezu though — the aura surrounding upbeat AC pop rock is abstruse in such an undeniable way; this is also how “Ride” has evaded much of my scorn. The appropriation of reggae rock and its subsequent revival: 1. Adaora: 0. 
[7]