The Singles Jukebox

And you may ask yourself, how is this a hit?

[Video][Website]
[3.67]

Madeleine Lee: “I live my life like my blood type: B positive” is something people write on their online dating profile in lieu of demonstrating personality.
[2]

Taylor Alatorre: “So many thoughts, lemme drown them out.” Yes, please do. More specifically, it’s the faux-blitheness of the verse lyrics that should be drowned out, in order to give the faux-depth of the chorus more room to breathe. Because when you separate that chorus from all the pandering goofiness and pop star gripes that surround it, you’re left with an enduring existential problem that even David Byrne couldn’t solve: well, how did I get here? Juxtapose that against a frothy dance beat that sounds like every other song released this year, and you’ve got yourself a surprisingly sobering reminder of all the bad choices and false starts that have led you, me, and humanity to this point. Yes, I’ve been tricked into investing actual emotions into this empty husk of a song, and I have to tip my cap to that.
[6]

Alfred Soto: I wanna meet the bright boy who thought their moniker was an exemplar of wit. Then I want to find who thought the marimba tap dance routine was a clever sound and kick some shins. Finally, while I sense a hunger for a leader who can find manufacturing jobs for poor rural Americans, I didn’t realize the existence of a subspecies that wanted Twenty-One Pilots and Macklemore to mate. And before readers think I protest too much, one of the lyrics is “I live my life like my blood type: B positive.”
[1]

Katie Gill: “I live life like my blood type: B Positive” made me bust out laughing at the sheer cheesiness and made Mom give me a strange look. She then listened to the song a bit and proceeded to shimmy along with the beat. Considering my Mom’s got a Train ringtone, this doesn’t really surprise me. Timeflies seems to be taking a page out of the Train playbook of Top 40 Songs Inoffensive Enough for Middle-Aged Women.
[6]

Scott Mildenhall: Anyone who’d suppose Carly Rae Jepsen is the missing link between Owl City and Justin Bieber should think again. Vocally, Cal Shapiro is closer to a hyper-contemporary Mendes-Jonas hybrid — one that raps like a magic mentor from an early 90s children’s information video — but comparisons to Purpose, flattering or otherwise, seem most apt, and should be considered a godsend. Very little elsewhere in this song is anything but bungling, comprising as it does lyrical clunker after lyrical clunker. The titular lines are the seeds of something engaging, but it’s better to pretend that the rest aren’t really there. On the other hand, at least it’s not Cheat Codes’ cover of Kevin Lyttle.
[5]

Cassy Gress: Check out all these puns, man! What’s my blood type? B Positive! Heroin, poppy shit! Live as a Total Request! No but seriously dawg, sometimes some rough shit happens, and like, I don’t have a roadmap for life, man. But it’s all good – you just gotta dance! Here’s where I stare at the camera like I’m on The Office.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: Against my better judgment, if this came on while I was dancing.. perhaps not in a club, but while I had the radio on while cleaning my apartment, I would bop around a fair bit. Its light, friendly dance beat hides lyrical and melodic snatches that are familiar and comforting as long as you don’t pay too much attention. Your mum is probably driving to the bank listening to this. It also has multiple “fun” “rap” “bits” that your dad can enjoy. Add three points if you don’t understand any language.
[5]

Katherine St Asaph: The hell-rubric of Adult Hits, where bowdlerization qualifies as talent, corniness qualifies as wholesome, tinker-toy riffs qualify as charming and carefree sexlessness qualifies as dancing.
[2]

A.J. Cohn: Supposed good time music that, with its strained wordplay and xylophone plinks, recalls nothing so much as the good times of preschool.
[3]