The Singles Jukebox

Once more unto the boy band breach…

[Video][Website]
[4.78]

Katherine St Asaph: You forgot the “do.”
[3]

Alfred Soto: I suppose the bleeps and bloops accompanying this boyish quartet make for something different, but the song doesn’t go beyond its titular conceit.
[4]

Micha Cavaseno: What exactly is the “difference” here that should indicate Why Don’t We as anyone to listen to? It’s less in the boys themselves and their functionally restrained performances (nice as they seem). “Something Different” works in the light muzak calm to all their crunchy distortion licks and flangy flutters; a strange midpoint between barely present and faint irritant, almost like musical tinnitus. While that sounds actually obnoxious, it’s a subtle trick that this record never goes out of its way to bombastically announce and conquer you, but linger in the back of your mind. Someone took the concept of “earworm” perhaps a little too literally.
[5]

Scott Mildenhall: With a band name built to precede the phrase “since Nick Jonas turned it down,” Why Don’t We are in the right ballpark. They do sound very scared to leave it though. It almost sounds like they’re doing their best not to expose any vocal limitations, but it would be wrong to assume. It’s equally possible that “Leon Jean-Marie with any identifiable edges smoothed off” was the impetus, and why not?
[6]

Anjy Ou: When you’re young and in love you always think you’re more special than you are, that your experience is magical rather than mundane. “Something Different” is a pretty good example of that illusion. More of an interlude than a song, more of an attempt at singing than a performance. Yet with its production and R&B stylings ripped from Zayn who ripped them from JT and JC who ripped them from [insert R&B singer here], it hits that sweet spot of ’90s/early 2000s boy band nostalgia — one that most of Why Don’t We’s fans probably can’t appreciate. I think I only like this song because I’m old(er) and cynical but I can still remember what all that feels like.
[5]

Andy Hutchins: The production, highlighted by an appealing mix of crunchy and airy in the verses and what sound for all the world like horns made of rubber in the hook, is, yes, something different. The try-hard faux-Zayn vocals, not so much. But this is a trifle that goes down easy.
[5]

Hannah Jocelyn: I was worried going into this, just because it’s vaguely associated with Jake Paul (via his brother Logan, one of six co-producers on this song and the director of their actually pretty slick video) That said, I actually like the production here; it’s simple, but the Bangarang-y synths are a nice touch. Also an improvement on “Jerika” are the lyrics, which are somewhat meaningless but almost refreshingly inoffensive. 
[6]

Jonathan Bradley: You know, I’m still kinda bummed New District never happened. But that’s OK; maybe Why Don’t We is here to be the boy band that maybe we’re all looking for even though we don’t yet know it. “Something Different” is, um… hoping that what we’re looking for is The DFA? With R&B verses Auto-Tuned into Lloyd’s “You”? This is the buying-a-record-player-and-a-vintage-distressed-band-tee-from-Urban-Outfitters of pop groups, which is fine in concept, though even James Murphy sometimes remembers you need a chorus. I watched the video, wondering if some latent charisma could make up for the reserve, but, gosh, what a buncha dweebs. The clip’s a high-concept thing that works overtime to take the attention off these lads’ personality. Bad sign.
[5]

Nortey Dowuona: Nice, bland white-bread singing over simple heavy bass, scattered synth lines, and lumbering drums. Meh. Not bad enough to hate, not cheesy enough to actually enjoy. Kinda like the Tostitos nacho sauce they sell at AMC now.
[4]