Sucker
| Charli XCX
Sucker
Sucker
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Sucker is a crowded and surprisingly dense record, given that the majority of its songs are concerned with the various fruits of stardom.
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Consequence of Sound
Sucker is an “I told you so” middle finger that won’t budge, marking itself as proof that punk deserves its place in pop, that call-and-response lyrics aren’t always cheap, and that there’s nothing shocking about a young, female artist emerging with another condensed, polished album.
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The Guardian
But for all its failings, and for all that it falls short of the more hysterical hype, it does enough to convince you that her long-delayed moment in the sun won’t be fleeting: perhaps she’ll get there yet.
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Rolling Stone
Sucker is no retro gesture: Charli runs the album’s rock & roll guitars and attitude through enough distressed digital production and thumb-type vernacular to make this the first fully updated iteration of punk pop in ages.
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SPIN
Sucker is just an exceptionally good pop album. Those are rare enough as it is.
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Metacritic
Sucker is pop-punk, radically redefined and dragged, middle fingers waving, into the future.
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The Telegraph
From the tip of its cheerfully antagonistic lyrics to the steel-pointed toe of its musical attack, Sucker offers an exuberantly fresh reboot of new wave aesthetics as teen pop.
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Time
While Sucker contains a dressing room’s worth of new styles and a Top 40 playlist’s worth of pop moves, Charli XCX is a smart enough songwriter to make them her own, and magnetic enough a presence to make that a winning prospect.
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USA Today
On Sucker, XCX doesn't just tweak the ear-candy pop template, she blows it up, then pries the shiniest bits from the asphalt.
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Slant Magazine
Sucker, is the sound of a long-incubating star emerging so fully formed on an international stage that it’s difficult to figure that an artist gifted with so much sneering bravado was ever thought of as an underdog.
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The Line of Best Fit
Sucker is a perfect transition into the conventional zeitgeist. It's cynical, it's coy, it's assertive, but it's catchy as they come.
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musicOMH
Sucker is full of these power-pop choruses and while some have rather generously referred to some of its contents as “punk”, there is undoubtedly an attitude to Charli XCX’s delivery that is reminiscent of Gwen Stefani in her heyday.
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Paste
Sucker, the singer’s second major-label LP, is all spotlight: 13 tracks of magnetic—if occasionally monochromatic—synth-pop rebellion.
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DIY
For all its instant appeal, this is for the most part an album that eschews pop convention.
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Album of the Year
Charli XCX proved herself with this very strong album full of radio ready pop anthems.
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Louder Than War
Sucker is full colour power pop perfection. Fast paced, bouncing and packed with quirky electronic punctuation.
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All Music
Sucker, she keeps more of that hit-making swagger for herself, delivering attention-getting pop that's bold enough to ensure she isn't overshadowed by anybody.
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Digital Spy
Join the party, cause some mischief, and most importantly, embrace the very enjoyable music.
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The 405
Sucker has a sonic density and a breadth of ideas that bely its lyrical simplicity.
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Idolator
The album provides a rattling punch to her female counterparts that shows the singer’s talent as a solo star. It is unapologetic, feisty and all about girl-power.
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Poparazzi
Sucker is a good release from Charli XCX offering some truly wonderful songs that are undeniably catchy.
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BreatheHeavy
“Sucker” will solidify her position this year with the best of em’ thanks to its unique tone in mainstream music.
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MEDIA HYPE
Sucker is full of punchy girl power anthems that you can’t help but dance too while shouting the lyrics alongside the track.
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entertainment.ie
It makes for a wonderfully diverse collection that buzzes, pings and sashays through some sultry, breezy three-minute electro-pop tunes.
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HTF Magazine
Sucker isn’t quite ground-breaking, but it is fun, liberating and something you’ll find yourself dancing around your bedroom in your underpants to in no time.
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Sputnik Music
It’s a heartening display of what she’s capable of and a reminder that Sucker, for all its charms, occasionally comes off as one-dimensional. But there were few records this year as sparkly and blindingly colorful, with production values that revel in excess and a mischievous spirit that rivals the best of Charli’s rebellious, sexually adventurous forebears.
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Daily News
It's an altogether more focused approach than she took on her last album, "True Romance," which sounded like Gwen Stefani in her flabbier moments. As a result, "Sucker" ends up monochromatic, but that only helps Charli hone a persona.
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Thomas Bleach
“Sucker” is a throwback pop album that impresses with grunge rock roots intertwined with synths that will have you grooving along to the bubblegum hooks.
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The Edge
Sucker is by no means the best album I’ve ever heard, it will still do well and strike a chord with millions of youths “caught in the middle of love”.
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Culture Hash
Sucker features less taboo subject matter, namely sex and drugs. XCX’s image is far from sexual, which is a refreshing approach.
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News OK
With her sophomore album “Sucker,” Charli XCX unapologetically flips pop music on its head and kicks it to the curb in favor of something uniquely hers.
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NPR
SUCKER remodels the punk-pop subgenre for another generation of disaffected pleasure-seekers.
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B-Sides
Sucker’s end of year release doesn’t stop it from being one of the most captivating records of the year, one for all kinds of music enthusiasts to experience.
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The National
This is petulant rock at its best and teenage angst at its worst, with a good measure of talent.
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Las Vegas Weekly
Overall the record serves as a sterling display of Charli XCX’s knack for twisting the retro and contemporary into something fresh.
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Auspop
‘Sucker’, an explosive electro pop affair that deserves all the hype that comes before it.
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Popstache
SUCKER embraces this irresponsibility with catchy hooks and lyrics. The album’s take on growing up is one inevitably appreciated.
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Genius
"Sucker", among other tracks, mixes Charli's love endeavors with her road to fame. In Sucker, Charli chisels her own niche in the mainstream with only a couple of concession singles.
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Plugged In
The album tips its hat to early female pop-punk icons like Runaways-era Joan Jett as it meshes and moshes pop, punk, rock and dance elements with in-your-face attitude.
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Sunderland Echo
Sucker finds the Cambridge singer striding for the big leagues, holding little back with its stadium-sized power pop and flourescent flashes of EDM.
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Music Times
It has that pop accessibility without any monotony. It draws from the shimmer of the '80s and the grit of punk rock. It feels fresh and has attitude.
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The Hoya
“Sucker” is a party in itself, filled to the brim with wild sounds and a thriving beat reminiscent of the disco era, but at times it just feels like the same song is on repeat.
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KXSU
Being very well organized, the record is perfect for a dance party or an exciting drive to school in the morning. I could not listen to this album without feeling pretty hyped for my day.
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Mind Equals Blown
The we-will-rock-you groove of “Hanging Around” and the subtle punkiness of “London Queen” are just a few highlights of what actually makes for a pretty good collection of verse-chorus-verse pop songs.
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Refinery29
Punky and poppy in all the right ways, Sucker sounds like the Spice Girls jamming on Buzzcocks covers, Cyndi Lauper hanging with the Strokes.
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The Pop Break
It’s all a mishmash of wanting to be rich, falling in love, and indecipherable meanings. Charli XCX may think she will change the future of pop music, but she’s basically a punky Kesha. Move on folks. We’re dealing with the next faux trashy pop star with attitude and nothing more.
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Collapse Board
Sucker’s just another disposable flight of fancy, another lusty babe swigging booze and gunning the top of the charts. One gutsy kinky loop-de-loop that really hits home, and the rest just ordinary bids for the record-buying public’s attention.
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Play OK
Sucker is fiery (Breaking Up), rebellious (Break The Rules), and so fresh-to-death youthful on songs like Doing It that you’d think she’s the first person to fully understand what it means to be young.
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Spectrum Pulse
Charli XCX emphasizes heavy beats over melody and it means the album is a lot less catchy or sticky or interesting for me, especially when I don't get much beyond it in the lyrics.
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Pop Insomniacs
The punk influences course throughout the album, in subtle ways that warrant repeat listens
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