Cady Groves – “This Little Girl”

Cady Groves is one tough chick.

At age 22, the spunky chanteuse is just beginning to make waves with her venomous debut single, “This Little Girl,” co-penned by Cady herself and produced by Swedish superproducer Kristian Lundin. Crunchy and catchy with a storming chorus, “This Little Girl” certainly packed a potent enough pop punch to pique my curiosity — and I’ve had it on heavy rotation ever since it premiered a few weeks ago.

But the best is still yet to come: Yesterday night, I joined Cady and her label, RCA, for a listening party at Cowgirl in the West Village — a fitting venue for the Oklahoma native (they have cowboys and cowgirls in Oklahoma, right?) — where she talked about recording her album, previewed several songs, and generally charmed everybody’s socks off.

Among the tracks played were “Wrong,” a twangy midtempo about self-doubt with an aggressive backbeat, liberal handclaps (possibly the most important element in any pop song), and a country-inflected chorus; “We’re the Shit,” an infectious slice of “It Gets Better”-pop; and “Live and Learn,” an ‘80s-throwback jam with a tough bassline that wouldn’t sound out of place on Ashlee Simpson’s criminally underrated Bittersweet World. Best of all, though, was “In Your Window,” the likely second single, which has a propulsive beat, more handclaps and fingersnaps (!!!), and an explosive pop-punk chorus.

Whereas “This Little Girl” is slick pop to its core, the tracks Cady played tonight revealed more diversity — one part country cowgirl, one part mall-punk.

But most interesting was Cady’s overwhelming transparency in discussing her musical inspirations. The album, she said, emerged from the wreckage of her May-September romance with a two-timin’ older gent she dated while recording the record in Los Angeles. Of “This Little Girl,” she said, “I was really angry when I wrote this song.” At one point, she summed the album up thusly: “I just wrote the entire album about cutting off this guy’s D.” It was hard not to think of Alanis Morissette’s seminal Jagged Little Pill — which, like Cady’s songs, are loaded with snarling pop-rock hooks and sharp-edged vitriol.

Bitterly spurned like Kelly Clarkson, charmingly bratty like Avril Lavigne, and relatably real like Taylor Swift — suffice it to say that Cady Groves is one to watch.

Sam Lansky is a contributor to MuuMuse.

Behold: It’s the video premiere for “Cheers (Drink to That),” Rihanna‘s seventh (and presumably final, given this celebratory montage) single from LOUD!

RIRI, YOU FLAWLESS BITCH!

AHHH!!!! I just love every single millisecond of this clip! It’s got everything: You’ve got her cheeky, naughty side grinding all up on dudes, the bad ass strutting across the stage and grabbing her crotch, the party girl getting all tipsy in da club with her besties, the sugary-sweet mama getting lovey dovey with little children (I awwed!), and of course, you’ve got the Barbadian princess embracing her roots and celebrating in the streets with her home country, all adding up to everything that a proper pop star should be.

I love Rihanna. I’m stanning out like my name is Stan E. Stanford. Now I have to go and get my Rihanna Navy sailor outfit dry-cleaned so I can wear it out all weekend in support of Our Holy Rihsus, Lady of Barbados.

Oh, and Avril‘s in it. I mean…yeah.

I’m off to watch eleventy billion more times now!

“Cheers (Drink to That)” was released to radio in August. (iTunes)

NAVY!

Princess RiRi‘s got another certified smash on her hands: “Cheers (Drink to That),” the Avril-sampling sixth overall single off of Ri’s sensational fifth studio album Loud, has just leaped from #50 to #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, as well as #18 on the Billboard Pop Songs. That’s another Top 40 hit for Rihanna–and she hasn’t even begun to promote the single yet!

As one of the album’s breeziest moments, “Cheers” is poised to be the perfect end-of-summer anthem. Plus, it’s got a great little self-empowerment message that’s all the rage with the kiddies (and Top 40 radio) these days: Life’s too short, so don’t let the BAHSTAHDS get you down!

In conclusion, a quick pop quiz: That Rihanna reign will let up…

A. Tomorrow
B. Next Week
C. Next Month
D. Next Year

Answer: NONE OF THE ABOVE BECAUSE IT JUST WON’T.

Get your guns up, Rihanna Navy!

Our fearless leader, Princess RiRi, took to Twitter on Sunday to announce that her Avril Lavigne-sampling, The Runners-produced ode to the freakin’ weekend will act as the seventh (!) overall single from her 2010 album, LOUD.

Late last night, Lady Fenty tweeted the gorgeous single art, featuring a very “Only Girl”-esque Ri looking splendorous while standing atop of the driver’s seat of her sexy ride. (Is it a Mercedes? Boom boom, bay-beh? I don’t know cars…)

According to All Access, “Cheers (Drink To That)” hits Top 40 radio on August 2.

A solid, celebratory mid-to-late summer smash? I’ll drink to that!

LOUD was released in November. (iTunes)

I, I, I wanna go, oh–OH!

It’s the official single cover for Britney‘s third single from Femme Fatale, “I Wanna Go”!

I’m la-la-loving the Avril-esque colored extensions and rocker chick Mickey Mouse top look for Queen B! What a total Badassney.

According to Britney.com, “I Wanna Go” has hit radio stations TODAY–so drop the baby you’re holding, dial into your local stations and requesting the song like mad! (If you don’t, I will literally come after you. Swear to God…)

SOOPAH CUTENEY!

“I Wanna Go” was released to radio on June 6. (iTunes)