[Single Review] The Veronicas – Lolita

Before I say anything about The Veronicas‘ comeback single “Lolita”, I just want everybody to know that I hate them, and the fact that they hypocritically dissed Ke$ha and have now gone on to release a song that sounds exactly like something that Ke$ha would record is exactly what I’d expect from these two desperate wannabes.

It’s been five years since the Aussie duo released their last album, 2007′s overrated Hook Me Up. In the time since, they’ve been busy blowing rock stars and hanging out in pretentious L.A. bars, but now they’ve finally got their shit together long enough to start releasing music again.

Produced by top forty hitmaker Toby Gad, “Lolita” opens with the exact same twinkling synths as Ellie Goulding’s “Lights”, right before a throbbing dance beat kicks in and zips of electro are sprinkled on top. The duo’s usual pubescent screaming rears its ugly head on the hook, but it gets sliced up into sinister little stutters on a predictable-yet-killer post-chorus breakdown.

The Veronicas love to act like they’re underground rock chicks and not manufactured pop tarts, so it’s hilarious when “Lolita” plunges into a generic whirlpool of faux-dubstep towards the end. Even funnier is how utterly not shit that it sounds. These dubstep breaks should be unbearable by now, but this one works shockingly well with the menacing synths and pitch black rave beats of “Lolita”.

Lyrically, the inspiration behind “Lolita” is pretty obvious. Referencing Vladimir Nabokov’s infamous novel can come off corny if done wrong, but The Veronicas paint a vividly accurate portrait of the kind of twisted obsession Humbert Humbert harbored for the manipulative nymphette in Nabokov’s classic.

In simpler terms: I can’t stand The Veronicas and Kubrick’s film adaption of Lolita is my second-favorite movie of all-time, and even I think that “Lolita” is a well-written pop song (a rarity, these days).

When you can impress even your biggest hater, you must be doing something right.

Score: 3.75/5

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012 at 1:30 am and is filed under New Music, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Newer Comments →
  • http://twitter.com/MyTrainIsOff Katrina

    Duh!

  • Pez

    3.75? At this rate proph an adoption of a pitchfork style 0-100 rating system is inevitable.

  • Matthew

    i was in love with their first album, I didn’t care that much about the second one though…but I haven’t made my mind up yet about this new song…I kind of like and dislike it at the same time.
    I guess I wait for the video and then either love it or hate it.

  • AOI

    I’m not familiar with The Veronicas or their music, so the only thing I’ll say is that this loud mess does nothing for me. For me, there’s only one “Lolita”, and that’s Alizée’s ICONIC 2000 anthem! >_< PS: Proph, I'm curious, what is your favorite movie of all time?

  • http://twitter.com/TheProphetBlog The Prophet

    I’ve been rating things like that for a year or something now…

  • http://twitter.com/TheProphetBlog The Prophet

    Burton’s Batman Returns haha.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Manu-Barber/626285829 Manu Barber

    YOU AREN’T FAMILIAR WITH THE VERONICAS?!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Manu-Barber/626285829 Manu Barber

    New Veronicas! Finally, i’ve been waiting for this since Hook Me Up. It’s no ‘Untouched’ but i got fucking goosebumps for the whole song. :D I, instantly love it!!!

  • …

    I can’t stand them and I’m pressed they didn’t think of giving this to Rihanna, so she could use it as her new lead single…

  • D$

    and these bitches dissed ke$ha … okay girls sit back down now and wait for the album to be pushed back.

  • http://twitter.com/themusicprophet The Music Prophet

    They slay Ke$ha. While I’m not a fan of hook me up, they’re debut was flawless

  • http://twitter.com/curdey Michael Curd

    I cant stand these bitches – I used to live near them before they were famous (and as they first became famous for that matter) – everyone knew them as stuck-up private school bitches that thought they were hot shit. It’s so funny because theyve pretty much dissed everyone they steal their style from – Avril, Kelly, Ke$ha…they’re not nice girls at all, and until they prove otherwise, i maintain that they dont deserve a single ounce of success.

  • AOI

    I’m not! But since others here are praising their debut album, I might give a listen to it. This new song of theirs is not really my cup of tea…

  • AOI

    Good choice. Big fan of Burton right here.

  • theprophetblog

    LMAO do not listen to their last two albums, they’re shit. Second one is better than the first though but they’re both wack.

  • theprophetblog

    Ke$ha writes their songs, and judging by this, the style of music they’re now doing. So funny.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Manu-Barber/626285829 Manu Barber

    Kesha only CO-wrote on ‘This Love’

  • http://www.joey-nation.blogspot.com/ Joey

    Not bad, though not quite as defining as “Popular”.

  • AOI

    Don’t worry, J. We’re only last.fm friends, but if you knew me any better, you’d know that my “might” usually means “probably never/I’m just trying to be polite” :-S

  • http://ohdenny.com ohdenny

    I liked their second album #hidesinshame

  • TLo

    so uh, the twinkling sound will be the new trend after dubsteb? Btw I wonder who brought dubsteb into mainstream before Hold It Against Me came in.

  • http://twitter.com/lildarien lildarien

    These girls are amazing live, when doing acoustic that is. I’ve seen them twice and both times they ABSOLUTELY SLAYED the songs acoustically and then the instruments came in and they were completely drowned out.

  • http://twitter.com/Nomolos87 S. Arnaboldi

    The Veronicas are the hottest and most talented twins alive

  • Prophetina

    this!

  • Telvin10

    Rihanna was the first mainstream artist to use dubstep on her 2009 Album “Rated R”

  • LizzyG

    I’m really liking this. The chorus is very reminiscent of “I Can’t Stay Away” from Hook Me up, which came out before Kesha. Hook Me Up had a lot of dance beats so I don’t see how this is straying so far away from that except it’s a little faster a little more trance-like, so they evolved, what’s the big deal? And the sound of their voices together is very distinct, personally I missed the sound and I’m glad they’re back and I’m loving the song.

    But speaking of Kesha, I am dying to hear the full version of Supernatural!

  • Alex

    Britney Spear’s “Freakshow” on her album ‘Blackout’ from 2007. Has the dubstep wobble right in there.

  • Blah

    it’s good. not expected at all lol

  • Alex

    Kesha wrote their song “This Love”, which is one of their highest charting hits in the ARIA Charts – getting to No. 10. These stoopid filthy slags.

  • http://twitter.com/JoJo_Veronica JoJo

    U stupid haters better shut up! Both of their albums were FLAWLESS! Lolita is even better than I expected. Can’t wait for LOM!
    Lolita > 4ever > Hook Me Up

  • Pingback: [Single Review] The Veronicas – Lolita | Popular Music Reviews

  • LizzyG

    The more I listen to this song the more I love it. They do that rocker thing with their voices and it’s mixed with dance. I can’t picture Kesha making this song sound this way, maybe what’s her face from Paramore but I doubt she’ll ever try dance. A good song is a good song, and this is different and good. I LIKE GOOD SONGS AND I DON’T CARE WHO MAKES THEM.

  • Greg M

    “If this is what’s selling records, I’d rather be a starving artist” – Lisa (The Veronicas) on Ke$ha.

    Uhmmm, K$ wrote one of your biggest hits & now you’re actually copying her sound….right

    This is a great song but I would never support these twots, but I’m deff gonna go get tickets for the next Ke$ha concert ;)

  • Untouched

    4ever>your tranny eyebrows

  • Zach

    This sounds nothing like Kesha. Are they singing about getting wasted? Didn’t think so.

  • http://twitter.com/themusicprophet The Music Prophet

    Lol with your Kesha obsession… I just can’t! THE ONLY Kesha moment I love is her dress to the MTV Vmas… I thought the trash bag was FLAWLESS self symbolism

  • CISYD

    This is why I love you and your blog. You only judge an artist purely on the quality of their music. I hate the Veronicas as well but I have to admit this is good.

  • Oliver

    I know very little about The Veronicas as people, never watched an interview or bothered to listen to one of their albums in full because they really dont interest me that much but all their singles are undeniable excellent. And lets be real for a second here, I love Ke$ha and her music is totally catchy and she has a hilarious attitude but her actual lyrics are mostly vapid and completely stupid. I can totally understand why an artist would consider singing those types of songs would be the ultimate sellout. Kesha pulls it off because she maintains a level of self-awareness throughout the whole thing but I definetly dont think she has proven herself as any sort of deep writer. This song is amazing, and I am also in the camp that thinks their voices sound fantastic on the hook, their ad-libs really take the song to the next level. All around im very impressed and looking forward to any future singles!

  • theprophetblog

    Ke$ha sings about other things

  • theprophetblog

    Ke$ha is awesome. One of the only pop stars out who doesn’t have her head up her own ass, she makes great pop tunes, and if you listen to all her music beyond the singles, you’ll see that she’s a good writer. She mixes the narrative of country music songwriting with the repetitive hook nature of pop. She is a breath of fresh air and most people don’t know how to take her because they’re used to these fake snake stars who try to act like their music is the most important thing since Pink Floyd’s The Wall when it’s just rubbish. Ke$ha owns who she is. She’s fresh and fun and likeable.

  • mybiasbeatsyourbias

    Wwho the fuck are they again? That was a waste of time to listen. The song suck and concept rather sucky. What were they thinking?

  • Priscilla

    Proph, TOTALLY DISAGREE! The Veronicas are the best! I don’t know about their feud with Kesha or whatever. But Hook Me Up is soo good that album got me hooked on them. I played it all through the summer of 2009! I’m eagerly awaiting their next album-Lolita is flawless! Now one thing about them as compared to Kesha, Kesha’s performances SUCK live. Can you really call her a performer? I wouldn’t use my hard earned money to watch her in concert. The Veronicas, on the other hand, I’ve seen videos and they sound amazing live!!! I was skeptical before watching the videos, but they delivered! They write their songs (at least for this new album), play their instruments and sound great!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Manu-Barber/626285829 Manu Barber

    CO-WROTE, and that song charted the 7th highest of their singles.
    #1 Hook Me Up
    #2 Untouched
    #2 4Ever
    #7 Take Me On The Floor
    #7 Revolution
    #7 When It All Falls Apart
    #10 THIS LOVE.

    Considered they’ve only released 11 Singles to date, it is incorrect to say that it’s one of their highest.

  • Hoochie

    I agree with almost everything that’s been said here, except that “This Love” a Veronicas single, was co-written by Ke$ha; and that a lot of Ke$ha’s deeper material are demos floating around Youtube. Like “Goodbye” (a demo she recorded @ 13yo), “While You Were Sleeping”, “Let Me Go”, “Sunday Morning” and more.

    Though, tbh, I like her lyrically vapid songs more (“Slow Motion”, Juvenile sample or not, still slays me)

  • Hoochie

    I was about to say the same thing! <3

  • Synchorotical

    I go ooh ooh you go ah ah, la la la la, la la la la > this one.

    But this is still really good :D

  • http://twitter.com/HyunAKnowles HyunA Knowles

    I’ve always loved The Veronicas since in junior high school and I was kinda hoping that they’d stick to their pop-rock sound. But “Lolita” sounds actually good, so I love it too lol.

  • a_chan

    This is surprisingly good. When I read dance I automatically thought back to Take Me On The Floor and that annoying ass hook it had and it turned me off. But this song is a really well made pop song. I just hope they can perform it live. I also hope the pictures above are just ehavily photoshopped cause those girls look like some kind of hot mess of heroine and botox.

  • Alex

    Yeah co-wrote with Toby Gad, if we’re getting technical. And it is still one of their highest, even if it is their 7th highest charting single. My point though was that Kesha wrote one of their highest charting singles, yet these girls are trashing here. That was my point.

  • iAmJayDO

    Britney Spears did use it first with “Freakshow” and if I’m right, more songs off the “Blackout” album, but I believe it was “Hold It Against Me” that made dubstep really famous. I heard it a lot before she did it, but never the amount that people use on it now.

Newer Comments →