 Kelsey Paine of Billboard called the song " a love letter to DJs everywhere , with hand claps that build to a crescendo of pure , infectious dance @-@ pop . " Paine , referring to her appearance on " Right Round " , wrote that she " offers her own fun and frivolous ode to a wild night out " as she sings about drinking and men . The review was concluded with the consensus the Kesha 's debut " reveals a knack for getting the party started . " Jim Farber of the New York Daily News called the song " a vintage lick of dance candy too tooth @-@ rottingly sweet to resist " that featured a " stabbing synthesizer hook " . Fraser McAlpine of the BBC , giving the single four out of a possible five stars , called it a " dirty little ditty " that had " ' hit ' written all over it " . McAlpine noted its similarities to Lady Gaga 's " Just Dance " for their partying subject matter , but concedes that " she does make it sound kinda fun though . " Billy Johnson , Jr. of Yahoo ! compared " Tik Tok " to the 1980s L 'Trimm hit " Cars That Go Boom " and notes that Kesha has " take [ n ] on L 'Trimm 's vocal styling for her own hit . " 
