Tyke + Punk = ?

To cleanse the palate of a rant. This one's hovering somewhere between 10-20 of the year right now, a lot of fun and boy vocals that don't grate -- a rare commodity round these parts lately. Ashley Parker Angel vocals on "Let U Go" are nice, but other stuff suggests that that's just Max and co. talking(/singing). Ash, it's OK, O-town is far far away from wherever the hell you are now. Just follow the nice Swedish gentlemen...and remember, NOBODY liked "Semi-Charmed Life." Fire the Matrix. (You too, Skye.)

Snotty pop-punk vocals meet "sings like a girl." They're cute, they're cuddly, and the Hanson comparisons only go so far (no Mormon vibes, it's all NJ Hot Topic 8th grade brat punk...actually, I bet they shop at Kohls like me)...this is straight power pop, really. Man, the guard has changed..."S Club 7 and all those boybands"? Might wanna run that one by Rachel Stevens. See, YOUR BAND is a BOYBAND now. A pretty good one. Mandy likes this. That's why you're with Mandy now, NOTHING CHANGED AT ALL, DUMMY. Wow, just skimmed the full lyrics for the first time...the rest of this song is completely devoid of any content whatsoever. Awesome. Although I wonder how it might have improved if it was a story of HOW he (they?) got with Mandy. As is, flash forward (in the first verse!) and she's just kind of...sitting there smiling blankly and blondly while they sing like a buncha girls.

This song doesn't even think about crossing the 3-minute mark. I bet they could shave it down to less than 2:30, actually.

Album available in Dec. (if it isn't pushed back again), downloadable in May. Seriously, record companies, just let Myspace handle the important stuff, this is idiotic. (Also, push NFTB2 back any further and you'll feel the wrath of my ALL CAPS POSTS. Mixes almost finished, album release date is August, more info on Skye Friday, which I might just start calling Skyeday to go with the streamlined, ridiculously expensive web redesign.)

Jonas Bros - Mandy (YSI)

And guys, just for reference, they can break it down for you by member (careful who yer lumping in with whom, boyband bratz):

S Club 7 - S Club Party