Alex Cameron – “Take Care of Business” (Singles Going Steady)

Pryor Stroud: Pulled from Alex Cameron’s upcoming LP Jumping the Shark, “Take Care of Business” plods along, for much of its duration, like a lethargic, brain-rotted version of some more impassioned ’80s new wave ballad. Yet this is precisely its appeal; there seems to be a more conventionally appealing song lurking somewhere within its mottled bloodstream, but it deliberately takes a different tack, adopting a cryptic, nearly demented tone instead. Cameron also dons a faux low-register bellow that further magnifies the track’s innate strangeness. But then — out of nowhere, or perhaps from somewhere that was there all along — a synth swell seizes your temples and the true melody materializes: “Oh, she takes care of business / I ain’t half the man I wanted to be”, Cameron mumbles, the synth casting circular light-figures around him, and all at once, the track reveals the heartache that was hiding beneath its surface the whole time. [8/10]

Emmanuel Elone: Am I supposed to take this seriously? There’s only so much overly-dramatic, faux angsty lyrics and singing that a person can take in a lifetime, and “Take Care of Business” overflows with it. Granted, the eerie synths in the background give this song some serous street cred, and are probably the most haunting synths since Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me”. Still, I can’t stand Alex Cameron’s overdone, whiny voice croon/moan “Taking care of business”, since it sounds so forced, so over-the-top, and so annoying. And, just like Gwen Stefani’s “Misery”, Alex Cameron results to using cliches and common idioms to carry his songs, in the hopes that any originality will come out through his “pained” and “exhausting” vocal performance. It just doesn’t work, and Cameron’s in desperate need for a new shtick if he thinks that his singing is in anyway quality. [4/10]

Chris Ingalls: The stark atmosphere and heavy keyboards recall vintage Gary Numan, maybe crossed with Nick Cave. The song would be perfectly acceptable as a low-key tone poem, but when it picks up in the last third, it’s just the unexpected jolt that the song needs and really gives it a new dimension. [7/10]

Chad Miller: Weird for seemingly no good reason. The beginning isn’t very musically endearing either. The music gets better in the second half, but it doesn’t make up for all the time I had to spend with the opening. [5/10]

Jedd Beaudoin: Love the tune, it’s kind of like Nick Cave at the karaoke bar. The video’s a little too on the nose, though. Thankfully, I won’t be watching it that often but will be blasting this sucker quite a bit. [6/10]

Alex Cameron‘s new album, Jumping the Shark, releases August 19th via Secretly Canadian.

SCORE: 6.00