Best and Worst Songs of All Time This Week (7/19/10) 

Best: “Drunk Girls” by LCD Soundsystem 

James Murphy crafts his songs like arguments. He yells and sermonizes during the verse, finding frantic, hilarious variations on melody and turns of phrase that keep you on the same page, even if you find his demeanor abrasive or beats repetitive. Then he reaches a sing-along that we can all agree on (in this case: “Oh, oh, ohhhhhhhhh!” and “The day becomes the night”). That’s how he convinces you. Pretty much every LCD song functions this way. It’s not so much a formula as it is a different brand of songwriting. The songs (and this song in particular) maintain their mystique within this format, mostly because it’s usually unclear exactly what is being argued. The title and first twenty seconds give the impression that “Drunk Girls” will be a more clever and guitar-driven version of NERD’s “Everyone Nose”, but it’s much sadder and more complex than that. Lines like “Drunk girls know that love is an astronaut / It comes back but it’s never the same” and “Sometimes love gives us too many options / Just ’cause you’re hungry doesn’t mean that you’re lean” have enough wit and truth to fit the song in the moment, but when considered afterward, you’ll probably wonder what they are doing here. And you won’t be wrong; this song is more fun than it actually is. By the end, the aforementioned “Oh, oh, ohhhhhhhhh!” sounds less like the club-uniting, carefree shout you heard at first, and more like a scared, confused, pained cry for help. The fact that you don’t know exactly what he’s crying for doesn’t make it any less affecting, or danceable. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xT6cdfP_cM 

Worst: “Lil Freak” by Usher feat. Nicki Minaj 

Someone tell Usher that this is not how the world works. You have to fake being a sweet guy with a love song before you get to have weird, scary sex with multiple groupies. You do not get these groupies with a song about groupies. No! I mean, of course he does, but it should not work this way. He’s upsetting the natural balance of the pop world, and doing so really nastily. This song is gross. The eerily soaring string hook could be intriguing and catchy in another song, but here they just amplify the creepy. Minaj tries desperately to save the song with a solid verse and an Everybody Loves Raymond reference, but it’s way too late by then. This is worse the first time than “OMG” is the billionth time. The only “Lil” Usher should be interested in contacting is Jon. Until he drops “Yeah Pt. 2 (Yup)”, keep him off the air. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNVNzRzDt-k

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