From now until something displaces last year’s “Umbrella†from the top of our iTunes most-played list, Vulture will be judging the contenders for this year’s Song of the Summer.
The Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Upâ€
Propelled by the moderate success of the Jonas Brothers’ TV movie Camp Rock, this first single from next month’s A Little Bit Longer currently sits atop the iTunes Top Songs chart. It’s a slick, semi-catchy story of romance during a deadly volcano eruption (“I’m slipping into the lava / And I’m trying to keep from going under,†goes the chorus). The track has this Beastie Boys–inspired video, and it also has a mid-song rap (by the Jonases’ actual bodyguard!), something we’ve not heard attempted in earnest in more than seventeen years. The fact that most JoBro fans are under the legal ages for driving and drinking would seem to hurt your chances of hearing it booming from a car stereo or playing in a club or bar (three obvious requirements for any “Umbrella†successor), but since we’re just know-nothing grown-ups, we freely admit that we’re probably wrong.