Seth's #10 - "California Gurls" by Katy Perry

California Gurls (ft. Snoop Dogg) by Katy Perry 

Seth

I have a sneaking suspicion that Andrew is going to barbecue me on this one, but here goes anyway. Say what you will about Katy Perry--that she's a soulless talent vacuum, a glass-eyed cipher, more famous for what's in her bra (or shooting out of it, given the time of day) than her music--but watch what this song does to a dance floor long about 1am and then deny it's a gem. Hell, I once saw a group of thirtysomething dudes with beards go nuts when this song came on. One of them even gave me a hug for putting it on the jukebox.

Nobody's ever going to mistake KP for a great pop artist: she's not cool like Robyn, dynamic like Beyonce or nuts like Gaga and most of her music sounds like it was made with her voice as an afterthought. For these four minutes, though, Perry might as well be Madonna for as much femmy firepower as she packs. The lyrics are a gloriously stupid ode to West Coast women and the men who love them (which is all of us, apparently). Perry (or at least the affable robots who manipulate her) gives a charming, fluttery vocal performance that sounds like she was actually awake for the recording, unlike the majority of her work. The music, oddly minimalistic for a pop single, chugs happily along through while K-T and Snoop Dogg memorialize the curvy anatomical superiority of, yep, California girls.

I get it, this song is stupid. There were many songs this year that meant more to me personally than this one--most of which won't make this list--but the summer's biggest, dumbest pop single just feels like a sugary blast of fun that will always remind me of 2010. Sometimes it's nice to indulge in things that are bad for you, like whiskey or Fox News. And all you hipster kids will love the twenty-minute Discodeine remix!

Andrew

I fired up the grill, dry-cleaned my best oven mitts, and threw on my "Blumpkin the Cook" apron...until I remembered that I had this song on heavy repeat for a while this summer. 

I don't begrudge anybody a little trashy pop.  Hell, I partake heavily myself at times.  I love that we live in a world where it's totally fine - nay, cool - for a hipster to have Lady Gaga follow My Bloody Valentine on his "Frickin' Awesome" playlist*.

My issue with this song is its aforementioned minimalism.  Katy Perry's voice is thin and her lyrics are mentally disabled but throw some chunky trance-stomp synths behind her and you've got a hit ("I Kissed a Girl").  In "California Gurls" though, the only musical element that I hear is the annoyingly insistent drum-beat.  The guitars, bass, and synth recede into the background and we're left with Perry's underwhelming voice and the THWACK-THWACK-THWACK of the drums.  But, look, it's catchy.  And as an unabashed fan of gurls from California, I can sign off on the message.

And on a final note, I am by no means an arbiter of cred but I have to assume that Snoop Dogg lost all of his when he appeared in this video. 


*A hipster has never titled his or her playlist thusly.