“Touchin’ On My” by 3OH!3
3OH!3 is a duo who seemingly got famous overnight, and then promptly faded into obscurity when the teenage crowd of the late 2000s got normal haircuts and quit wearing bright purple skinny jeans. This song dropped shortly after their prime, and there’s no denying the “beep” sounds in place of obscenities are pseudo-edgy to the point of inducing vomit. Regardless, the track itself is too catchy to resist and the chorus hooks its listeners.
“Last Friday Night” by Katy Perry
Katy Perry gets an unbelievable amount of love, considering the fact that she writes lyrics about plastic bags. The masses may love her, but music critics aren’t quite as kind. “Last Friday Night” is generally fun and the trumpet solo actually bridges into respectable new territory for a pop song. This one definitely gets a nod of approval … assuming nobody is looking.
“Animals” by Maroon 5
Adam Levine seems like a really stand-up guy and everything, but this track throws around one too many Robin Thicke vibes to be taken seriously. Maroon 5 has also devolved into Adam Levine throwing his voice through five or six different octaves in every song, which manages to be cringe-worthy, despite showcasing Levine’s impressive vocal range. The lyrics are terrible, but this is another case of a bad song carried by an ultra-catchy chorus.
“Welcome to New York” by Taylor Swift
In all fairness, Taylor Swift’s latest album, 1989, was actually pretty good. Despite this, the world is still split on whether it loves Taylor Swift or not. So whether or not someone views it as necessary to feel guilty about liking this track is going to vary. Regardless, there’s no denying Swift has had her fair share of cringe-worthy moments between lyrics on her earlier releases and the spoken word portion of “Shake It Off.” This track is extremely catchy and fun, so naysayers should be silenced and give this one a shot.
“What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction
One Direction will be a guilty pleasure pop band, no matter the song. “What Makes You Beautiful” is a song everyone listens to, but no one will admit to it. The song is catchy, the boy band idea is alluring and they’re British — which doesn’t hurt. This song made top 40 playlists around the world, and is still is squeal-worthy to many people today.
Masen Matthews can be reached at [email protected]