ToC Critic’s Pick: Maddie & Tae, ‘Shut Up and Fish’ [Listen]

Maddie & Tae’s “Shut Up and Fish” is more universal than even they thought. Sure, women of just about any age can relate to a guy picking the wrong time to make his move, but men everywhere can identify with this song. Who hasn't been the guy in the boat?

Perhaps only teenage boys will not "get" what’s wrong with the story Maddie & Tae tell. The lyrics snap together like a perfect Tetris board. Step back and admire the duo’s rhymes and phrasing as they sing:

“Oh, I was fishing, he was wishing we were kissing / I was getting madder than a hornet in an old Coke can / Getting closer, sliding over, crowding up my casting shoulder / Reaching out, trying to hold my reeling hand / Saying I'm pretty, saying he's in love / And how it don't get any better than this / I said, 'Yeah, it could / Boy, if you would shut up and fish / Shut up and fish.'”

The “old Coke can” lyric is among the best of 2015. Short, sharp, witty … honestly, that kind of describes the duo, and their third single from Start Here. Aaron Scherz and Pete Sallis are credited with co-writing “Shut Up and Fish.” The two older men probably laughed at memories from their own awkward formative years as they heard Marlow and Dye sing:

“For a little while he calmed down and let up / But then he went right back to pushing his luck / And that line of mine wasn't all I wanted to throw in.”

Spoiler alert: Homeboy gets what he deserves, although one senses the girls are sweet enough to lend him a hand and a towel as he climbs back into the boat. Maybe, if he cools off and commits to chasing bass and not — assuming he behaves — he may get what he’s after at the end of the day. Although, salmon shorts? Seriously?

Key Lyrics: "Oh, I was fishing, he was wishing we were kissing / I was getting madder than a hornet in an old Coke can."

Did You Know?: Like so many songs on Maddie & Tae's Start Here album, "Shut Up and Fish" was born from personal experience.

Listen to Maddie & Tae, “Shut Up and Fish”

See Maddie & Tae and 9 Other Best Albums of 2015