Pop Blitz

Owl City - Fireflies
I don’t know what annoys me more about this song: the lame,
Poetry 101 lyrics or the needy, whiny vocals. All I know is that this song drives me crazy. I understand why people like it, but I cringe every time it’s on the radio. D-

Allison Iraheta - Friday I’ll Be Over U
Borrowing a page from Kelly Clarkson, Iraheta manages to conjure a more believable youthful energy in this post-Idol debut. In short, it’s way more fun than Clarkson. The funky guitar line certainly doesn’t hurt. A-

Jay Sean - Down
Utterly confused at how this climbed to number one in Billboard. There’s nothing overly offensive about it. It’s just not memorable at all. It’s not fast enough to dance to, though it seems to want to be a dance track. Pretty middling. C-

Britney Spears - 3
Probably my favorite Brit single since Toxic, this sounded like a hit from the first listen. Sure, her voice is processed to the point of being unrecognizable, but you can’t deny the hooks, of which there are plenty. A-

Justin Bieber - One Less Lonely Girl
The latest tween sensation’s second single is not as addictive as his first, but does improve as it moves along and certainly checks all the right boxes for this type of music. B

OneRepublic - All The Right Moves
I don’t think these guys will ever have a hit the size of Apologize again, and though this song shoots for “soaring,” it doesn’t really get off the ground. Tedder’s written better songs for others recently. C-

Alexandra Burke - Bad Boys
I’m not sure this track has gotten the credit it deserves in some circles. I, for one, was not expecting something of this quality for Burke’s debut. It’s got a quality, classic pop/r&b melody and, forgetting those Flo-Rida parts, is pretty damn flawless. A