The Singles Jukebox

A whole point more than last time, how much more cheered do you want, kid?

[Video]
[5.71]

Scott Mildenhall: It’s magnificent, what they can do nowadays: “Cheer Up Baby” is a 360° tour of Planet NME in 2005, a pop world faraway yet close. Some things never change. This boy’s one desire — his goal of elevation to blue skies up ahead — is everlasting; “Cheer Up Baby”‘s successes the product of familiarity. Whether you’ve heard it before or are feeling it now — even better if the latter — this thoroughgoing mull in a damp October has cathartic potential, and its fizz to the edge of lift-off sure accounts for that. A boon for those who’ll follow, and perhaps a boon for you too.
[5]

Ian Mathers: Give me some credit — I found several things about this annoying before I knew anything about anyone’s dad. And honestly if I was going to say he reminds me of anyone, I would have said Pablo Honey-era Thom Yorke (not necessarily a demerit!). There’s at least some momentum to the chorus, although it seems to get sapped a bit as they add more elements towards the end, which feels like the opposite of what should happen? Mostly though it’s just the little nuances of affect and emphasis (and, I admit with a sigh, probably age) that can be hard to articulate but make the difference between bands you just instinctively gravitate towards and those that make you recoil a little.
[5]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I had to Google to verify that this was not, indeed, a Brandon Flowers side project. The rock melodrama, the teenage angst reading-a-love-letter-out-loud lyric, and the redemptive swelling bridge all evoke the best of old Killers tracks, just barely updated for 2021. The only difference is that Flowers’ artificial pastiche has been traded in for something more authentic and — dare I say — sweet. 
[8]

Edward Okulicz: Our occasion to cover this song is that it was the lead single off a #1 UK album. No doubt someone’s dad is proud. The press releases and the voice and the looks say it’s Bono, but listening to this song, I’m not entirely convinced that we shouldn’t do a DNA test to make sure the dad isn’t Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics because if ever there was a blatant “Dakota” rip, this is that. Annoyingly, it’s quite pleasant.
[6]

Juana Giaimo: This is actually a nicely built song, but it doesn’t say anything to me. The steady beat in the verses joined by the more playful guitar and bass lines sound neat and I guess the more explosive chorus was expected but it isn’t unwelcomed. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it had a more interesting vocal melody than just kind of screaming “cheer up baby” in a way that doesn’t sound cheering at all.
[5]

Tim de Reuse: A lot of bands have perfected this sugary post-punk-meets-indie-rock thing over the years, and who can blame them? Tell the drummer to keep up the momentum, make sure the bassist is playing on every eighth note, and you’ve got something addictive. The magic formula certainly works on me; but I’m still not inclined to give Inhalers too many points just because of how obvious it is that they’re copying their homework. If I wanted this particular brand of empty calorie there’s a lot of places I could get it from, and most have better lyrical chops than to rhyme “more than a friend” and “close to the end” during what’s supposed to be an emotional payoff.
[6]

Alfred Soto: The U2-Killers hybrid so terrifying to us in the mid to late aughts returns, this time at the service of homiletic banalities aimed at a woman stuck in a moment she can’t get out of. 
[5]