Selena Gomez - "Come and Get It"

Okay, I found some time to watch Selena Gomez's "Come and Get It" music video AND her live performance of it on Dancing with the Stars (video below).  Anyone who knows me knows that I have ... let's call them "issues" with Selena as a music artist.

Let's start with the music video.  Mission accomplished: Selena managed to pull off sexy without being distasteful about it.  Reminiscent of her "A Year Without Rain" music video with her long flowy dresses and dark alluring eyes, Selena plays on a dark seductive side of herself she wants to unveil to the world - a blossoming beauty emerging from her Disney cocoon.  That's all this video said to me.  Don't get me wrong, the girl is gorgeous (and I wish I could rawwk red lipstick like her) and I'm all for growing up as a maturing young woman, but that's all this video offers.

I appreciate the attempt to bring dancing into the picture with her performances as opposed to standing there doing nothing to engage with the audience, but in all the videos I've seen of her dancing (indirectly bashing the Biebs), she's a stiff dancer.

With that said, I turn my attention to the DWTS performance.  I shake my head as the music overpowered her weak vocals ... or wait, her lip-syncing performance?  I thought the AMAs performance was a lip-sync gimmick but was pleasantly surprised that she sang and danced at the same time - props - but she didn't dance as much at the DWTS performance and she still lip-synced?  Why.

Not the DWTS Performance

I like to give the benefit of the doubt and believe in the underdog to succeed, but sometimes that is hard to do.  Her songs are catchy - why else are they on the radio - but delivering satisfying performances that make me want to care about her music more...yeah, not happening anytime soon.  Although I will admit, whenever I hear "Come and Get It" on the radio, I can't help but sing along...fun fact: did you know that I do an awesome Selena Gomez singing imitation?

We Came As Romans - "King of Silence" Lyric|Music Video

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This week Vans Warped Tour released Michigan-based We Came As Romans' lyric/music video for "King of Silence," the third single bonus track of the re-release of their last album, Understanding What We've Grown to Be (see video below).  No doubt Vans WT released this video in order to hype up WCAR's debut to the main stage at Warped Tour this summer - stoked!

The main thing I have to say about this video is that it sounds very similar to WCAR's last single, "Hope," which they claim is the song that embodies them and would use to introduce themselves to new fans.  Both songs have similar sounds as far as guitar chord progression and drum patterns and promote similar messages about standing up and screaming your own voice, however, I find "Hope" to be much more convincing.  It has more of an anthem kind of feel to it as opposed to "King of Silence," which embodies more of a story being told.

One thing that I really do like about "King of Silence" is the lyrics, and especially because I'm a huge sucker for metaphorical lyrics - "don't wear that crown."  I'd have to say my favorite lyric from the song is, "You can't feel on top of the world with the weight of the world on your shoulders," because it speaks to me on a personal level.  To be frank, I'm about to graduate college - a great feeling at the moment but now I have to bear the pressures of the real world and start living my life.  This is what WCAR does: they get to you at your level and speak to you; they feel with you.

So far I'm digging the new sound that WCAR is dealing up for their fans.  It's intense without being overbearing or unbearable, and you can easily rock out to it when performed live.  When you listen to their music, you can sense their drive, determination, and purpose.  The trio of new songs all evoke a sense of union, a great feeling to have with other people - uniting under the religion of music.