The Singles Jukebox

Guilty flowers bring shame showers…

[Video][Website]
[5.11]

Lilly Gray: This is right on the heels of another lukewarm “To You, Who((m)?) Wasn’t Worth It” song but dang I don’t buy it! Wallet firmly in pocket! Please leave my doorstep and peddle your wares elsewhere, with that easy kinda-sad, kinda-resigned delivery! Get your dander up! Purchase a fiddle! Vary your delivery! I don’t know, make the handclap chorus an actual handclap chorus! Light a fire, man! 
[3]

Thomas Inskeep: Twee pop-country from a British female duo with “hey!”s in the chorus stolen from an Avril Lavigne song. This song is an ace example of a great concept — “you came home with guilty flowers” — poorly executed.
[3]

Alfred Soto: It answers the question, “What would Sunny Sweeney sound like crossed with Robyn?” I’m no closer to understanding what a guilty flower is, though. What’s its opposite number — an innocence bloom?
[5]

Iain Mew: There’s a concise but haunting narrative in there about cheating and the idea that what goes around comes around, emphasis on “should have known.” There’s also the unusual image of guilty flowers, the kind of small detail which has potential to expand and resonate. The problem is that the two don’t fit together at all. The guilt of anniversary flowers goes unexplained and sounds like it’s come from a song with a different emphasis. In much the same way, the surging chorus and careful verses sound like two unmatched pieces.
[4]

Claire Biddles: The central lyrical conceit is nice enough, and the Red-era Taylor Swift stylings are fine, but all I can think about is the continuing relevance of this tweet from over a year ago. 
[4]

William John: The chorus, with its sudden momentum shift and repetition of the title, is sublimely rendered with homely harmonies. A shame, then, that the verses are written so prosaically and with shaky scansion credentials.
[6]

Juana Giaimo: The vocal harmonies provide a fresh sound to an otherwise sad heartbreak song: by complementig each other voices and adding those “Oh!”s in the chorus, “Guilty Flowers” turns into a song about opening up your eyes and being strong enough to give an end to a harmful relationship. 
[7]

Brad Shoup: It’s better as a title than as central imagery; I like the part where they dismantle love at first sight. The chorus is a little power-pop; while they sing the title the bass seethes.
[5]

Megan Harrington: I’m a mark for this sort of pop — the ineffable mix of The Little Mermaid, “Breathless” by the Corrs, and twisted break-up emotions. From the outset I don’t want to root for Ward Thomas and their humble tale of hearts smashed and dated, but I’m quickly won over. Not by their porcelain morals, no, but by their vibrantly dorky songcraft. This is not the princess as outsider, this is the outsider as invitation. Ward Thomas are different. 
[9]