"How You Love Me Now" Hey Monday

The third season of NBC's hit singing competition The Voice ended tonight with minor controversy as Cassadee Pope was crowned the show's first female winner despite a former major-label deal as the frontwoman of punk-pop outfit Hey Monday. It seems a rather silly fuss, given that the group never saw much success; they are perhaps best known for once having a song covered on Glee. But in the interest of fairness, their 2009 single "How You Love Me Now" did briefly reach the top forty on pop radio—a slight achievement better left forgotten. Powered by peppy guitars and drums, as well as Pope's Avril-lite vocals, "Love" is the type of pseudo-headbanging migraine that regularly cropped up in the wake of Fall Out Boy. (See also: Paramore, Panic! at the Disco, et al.) Judging by Pope's victory song—a faithful, if slightly shouty, cover of Faith Hill's 2002 adult-contemporary smash "Cry"—she's trying something different for her solo career, and that's a wise decision for all involved. C-