I Pity The Haters

The most intense and divisive conversations I have with people nearly always begin with, "I have a song I want to play you."

Pop music is a litmus test in the process of young adult coolness authenticity: "You listen to Bon Iver?" [You're cool.] "You listen to Kylie Minogue?" [You're lame, unintelligent, out-of-the-loop, immature, self in-actualized.]

Essentially, pop music can be enjoyed by girls aged in single digits, so if you listen to pop music you have the taste of a nine year-old. Of course, there are exceptions. Lady Gaga, for instance, has been scratched off the Guilty Pleasure list by Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, the birthplaces of indie cred and tectonic divergence zones for what is and is not acceptable to have on your iPod. Other exceptions involve music sites like Hype.fm and Pandora. ("If Taylor Swift plays in my Pheonix channel, I can't help that. I only have so many songs I can skip per hour!")

You can also be so out you're in, like Fergie. I'm not sure how that works, but everyone loves Fergie. I know cokeheads and band agents and American Apparel employees alike who will lose their shit when "Glamorous" comes on. "This is my jam!"

The irony is that many artists with a massive "underground" (i.e. depressed hipster) following like Uffie have pop sensibilities stronger than major aboveground musicians. "DVNO" by Justice is more radio-friendly than anything Gwen Stefani ever released, and she has multiple #1's and a legion of teenage fans.

Acceptable music acts like The Gossip, Tokyo Police Club, and Surfer Blood are the aural equivalent of nails being repeatedly driven into my skull. If I was a cave man, I'd love the grating chorus line of "Keep The Car Running" by Arcade Fire, but I heard Britney Spears' "Crazy" as a preteen inside a Chuck E. Cheese and know that pop music can change your life.

Pop music doesn't alter your life in the same way Fiona Apple does, however. Pop music is so frothy you don't even need to filter the lyrics. With our intellectual webs disabled, pop music hits directly at our pleasure (or pain) centers. The sensation can be so real even the most jaded of hipsters will, I guarantee you, dance when "Rude Boy" plays. They will belt out Mariah's "We Belong Together" in private. They will play Katy Perry's newest single, "Teenage Dream," and tear up in their rooms reflecting on high school memories.

"Teenage Dream" is a perfect example of Pop That Changes Your Life: "You say I'm pretty without any makeup on/...let's go all the way tonight." Damn. Have we not all lived through this? Why cast hate on a story told through this medium? As if hipsters speak more eloquently than most pop music is sung. "You make me/ feel like I'm living a/ teenage dream." There's no pretense. Come as you are, listeners, because we've all been teenagers and you don't need a degree from Columbia and a longtime pretend relationship with "a fashion designer from Brooklyn" to appreciate the first time you woke up and realized you were a little less innocent than you were the day before.

I pity anyone who can't appreciate the sugar rush of Kylie Minogue's "Get Out of My Way" or the electric bounce of Leighton Meester's "Your Love's A Drug." A good pop song, on first listen, can be better than sex. Just as pop can give life, however, pop also taketh away; I remember listening to Usher's "Love In This Club" (a painfully mediocre pop song, really) in the car for the first time and nearly getting into a wreck due to my temporary ecstasy.

We cheat pop music out of whatever potential it has to effect people when we label it the way we do; "deep art" can often be even more transparent than pop, which has a sense of irony and is rarely serious. There's more humor in Perry's "California Gurls" than in any song The Heartless Bastards ever conceived, more tangible emotion in Robyn's "Should Have Known" than any sculpture in the MoMA. (This may or may not be an exaggeration.)

I can't convince anyone to like pop music. You understand the appeal or you don't. However, like someone born with a poor sense of smell can never understand the appeal of French food, I can only try my best not to rub it in.

Summer LITERALLY starts NOW

I love everything about this.

http://www.katyperry.com/

New Music: Remix Update

Club music right now...not so hot. DJs, however, seem to be having a lot of fun remixing pop classics.

Remix #1: Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" by Yelle. Stripping away the addictive chorus, Yelle's replaced the bubblegum for a little alternative Big League chew: "You're hot, hot, hot/Then you're cold, cold, cold/You tease me, tease me, tease me/Sayin' you'll call, call, call." It's not an improvement, necessarily, but the remix brings something fresh (and yes, French) to the pop feast offered by Perry's original. It's like bourbon in a Jell-O cake.

Remix #2: Madonna's "Miles Away" by Johnny Vicious. In contrast to Oakenfold's superior remix of "Give It 2 Me" earlier this year, Vicious has downplayed the vulnerable elements of "Miles Away" in favor of earthy beats and tropical sound effects. In a smart editing move, Vicious didn't remove any of the guitar strumming of the original. So, in a nutshell, Vicious implemented a few light tweaks in the bodice of the original, leaving a slightly more robotic (but nontheless more danceable) version of Madonna's failed second Hard Candy single.

Remix #3: Justin Timberlake's "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" by Justice. The brizilliant French duo, seemingly unable to craft anything sub-par, took Justin's original--by far the most offbeat of Futuresex/Lovesounds' singles--and transformed the lazy inbetween-chorus valleys with vibrant string sections and a stunning musical breakdown as the finale. (Did that make any sense?) However, Justice outdid themselves with vintage Britney...

Remix #4: Britney Spears' "Me Against the Music" by Justice. Remixes as surprising and revolutionary (in accordance to the original) as Justice's take on "Music" are rare. With anthemic, urgent horn-like synths and breathing-in-reverse effects at every chorus, this is a redeaux only the French could put out. (Teehee!) Britney actually sounds better with a rougher production, with Madonna's section sounding right at home, and it leaves me wondering if hiring Justice as either of their primary producers for their next albums would be a forward-thinking move. For Madonna, a sound like Justice's seems like a natural next step in her evolution into post-apocalyptic football player, but with Britney this should probably stay a one-time deal. It's the best remix of the four, but Britney is sexy; Justice is sexy. Together, they're almost cliche.

At this moment...

...I'm thinking Britney Spears' "Circus" (the track, not the album--yet) is one of the best pop tracks I've heard since "Toxic." With a breathy sample as a bass line, a characteristic slowly becoming Britney's signature, the track is consistently surprising. From the initial pitch rise, reminiscent of Madonna's "Miles Away," it's clear Dr. Luke wants to keep it all in the family. Bringing together the best of Katy Perry's crunchy samples off "I Kissed A Girl," the tenacious throbbing of Confessions on a Dance Floor, and even Paris Hilton's redunkulous pop ease, if you have any taste at all, you will hate this track.

But for the rest of us ear candy addicts, "Circus" could not be sweeter. It's better than "Womanizer," easily, and the lyrics are wholly believable: "All eyes on me/ in the center of the ring/ just like a circus."

In other news, I still haven't listened to The Killer's new album. Like, I have owned it for almost a week now--preordered it and everything--but I'm just way to preoccupied with vintage Madonna and Buckcherry's "Crazy Bitch."

Happy late Thanksgiving, btdubs!

Is Katy Perry the next Madonna?

Right now, everyone's "the next Madonna." Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Britney Spears, the latter of which being the most realistic candidate, have been crowned the New Queens by blogs and newpapers and films and, in Britney's case, lyrically. There's a reason this debate is going on, too--with her last album, Madonna proved she has lasting power unlike what Confessions on a Dance Floor seemed to suggest. She's got radio power. At 50. With kids. And a divorce.

So, really, who's the next Madonna? (True answer: NO ONE! But let's forget that for a second.) In a moment of inspiration, like, three seconds ago, I decided that the wielder of the Madonna torch is Katy Perry. Think about it--how did Madonna start in this business? Stirring up controversy, courting the gay audience, and setting clothing trends. Granted, Madge had a flawless first album, while Perry's is just oookaaaayyy, but still: the amount of public controversy lil' Katy's "Kissed A Girl" caused is kind of remarkable. It's become this litmus test when you meet someone. "Do you like 'Kissed A Girl?' No? Oh, that sucks. [I.e. Well, our friendship is over.]" Girls who like it are either personally self-affirmed or, well, actually into kissing girls, while those who hate it just hate it because it makes them "good" girls.

Who surrounds Perry on her tour? For better or for worse, a bunch of effeminate makeup artists and dancers and stylists. Who happen to be male. What about the trend-setting style? I will be the first to say Perry's no SJP, but I know more than one girl who's bought a short jumpsuit "like Katy Perry!"

This is truth. Eat it. IT'S KRUCHY!!

P.S. Not my image.

MIMS Perry Remix: My Girl Kissed A Girl

I'm so overwhelmed right now. Life is so great in so many ways. School is a blast, new friends are popping up everywhere I turn, and there's a remix of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" that just may be better than the original.

"I Kissed A Girl (J-Kits Remix [Feat. MIMS])" is a feat of hip-hop enlightenment, of buttoned-up crunkonicity, of relentless sex appeal and out-of-control restraint. MIMS, a rapper that is just unimpressive to me in every way, has taken what may be the most controversial pop song of the past decade--not because of the material, but because so many people just plain hate the track itself--and reshaped the throbbing beats and layered vocals into a blazing hip hop track with production so glittery it is the musical equivalent of the Eta Carinae.

There are so many ways this track could have gone wrong. While MIMS throws down some pretty dirty verses ("My girl kissed a girl/won't fill me no details/'cause she don't kiss and tell"), his final line is delivered with such swagger, so unironically, it renders the cornier lines obsolete: "I find it/something sort of exciting/my girl kissed a girl/and guess what?/she liked it."

In a touch of hip hop brilliance, every time the chrorus kicks in the bass line dimishes, synths flaring out of pitch like shooting stars. Perry's importance in the song is decidedly reduced--something about the distractingly good production--but the message is still clear and still sexy. In all honesty, this is a more mature version of the original. I cannot image a preteen girl jamming out to this and actually enjoying it: this remix is simply too dirrrty.

But for me and my friends, speeding down 5th in a Lexus with the volume on max, there's nothing closer to ecstasy.

MIMS would want you to download the track for free here.

Mad Style: Old Music rocks, TIME Magazine editors think they know music

Old music has come back from the past to gang bang my iPod. "Old" meaning songs and artists who rose to fame before my musical maturation--my musical puberty, if you will. Naturally, Madonna is one of these artists, and that is not to say she isn't relevant today, something that is most certainly debatable, but her catalogue of hit songs goes back almost three decades. That's a lot to dig through.

I'm always writing about Moby and his ability to sense trends before they hit the airwaves, but no one read the musical forecast like Madonna in her prime. Madonna's "Vogue" is a track so future-conscious it's hard to believe it was written and produced before I was even one year old. As a writer, Madonna isn't given enough credit, but with the exception of "She's Not Me," Hard Candy doesn't really warrant any kind of writing praise. But her "old" stuff? It's brilliant. The most amazing thing about "Vogue" isn't the production, which arguably paved the way for hundreds of piano-driven dance tracks (ex. Moby's "Disco Lies"), but the cultural influence and style set forth by Madonna in the late eighties, with "Vogue" the primary vehicle of that influence. The track's echoed vocals and bridge--where Madonna famously name drops like, I don't know, every important actor and actress of the pre-Beatles era--could be the soundtrack to any Gap or American Apparel ad, or even remixed and rerecorded by Rihanna to top the charts. And I'm not suggesting this as some distant New York Times writer whose job requires them to make empty predictions--I'm dead serious, as both a fan of Rihanna and an active observer of pop radio. By observer, however, I mean that literally: if a doctor doesn't have to test every prescription drug he hands out, surely a music blogger doesn't have to listen to Kiss FM to understand what the pop audience craves.

And speaking of distant music writers, TIME magazine wrote an article in this week's issue about the "songs of the summer." "Disturbia" is number two on their list. Let us recap: Rihanna released "Disturbia" little over a month ago, where it received a moderate amount of buzz but never charted well because of "Take A Bow" essentially raping the charts multiple times (it hit No. 1 on Billboard twice, before Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl") Just last week "Disturbia" hit number one, which is surprising to me considering how aurally annoying the song really is. The point here being, how can TIME crown Rihanna's "Disturbia" the song of the summer when the track just hit radio three weeks ago? The answer is, they can't. Of course, the actual "queen" of the summer, if we're going to use that term, goes to Perry and "I Kissed A Girl." (Considering how many times I've written "Grill" in place of "Girl," I should just rewrite the song for her.) But of course the politically correct (LOLZ) TIME denounces "Kissed" because it offends both gays and straights, and "no one really listens to it." And that's why it was number one for almost two months. Thanks TIME, for another well-written article by your musical monkey men with their inability to admit how much they listen to "I Kissed A Girl" in their cage at the zoo.

I'm pretty sure I just wore myself out. Janet Jackson, Salt-N-Pepa ("Push It" may be the sexiest song ever produced), old Kylie Minogue, Boston, and even Smashmouth are beginning to tighten to gap in the race for my taste. Sadly, though, I still choose The New over The Good more often than not, simply because I'm addicted to the former--yes, I really am that shallow. But for now I'll enjoy "Vogue" and "La Isla Bonita" and "Smokin'" and the rest of my pre-pubic tracks while radio continues to devolve into a static blob of Timbaland beats and Akon hooks.

The IT Factor

Katy Perry has that indescribable, intangible gift of foresight when it comes to her style. I didn't buy into all the Perry fashionista hype back in the day (i.e. June), but I do now.

According to her latest official blog post, her new visual style reference will be Prince's own Apollonia.


Perry has officially joined the ranks of Sarah Jessica Parker, Carine Roitfeld, and Grace Jones.

"Fresh," indeed.

Douchebag Music

Those guys on stage there? Yeah, they're douchebags. I've never met them, no. But I've listened to their stellar new album, Want, and that's all I need to summarize the characters of hip-hop group 3OH!3.

Ahem. The lyrics of "Starstrukk": I think I should know/ how to make love to something innocent/ without leaving my fingerprints out/ L-o-v-e's just another word I never learned to pronounce

Hip-hop is alive and well, ladies and gentlemen! And, thankfully, it hasn't been muted by the age of Miley Cyrus and 50 Cent's "Ayo Technology," arguably the worst hip-hop song ever created (it both single-handedly destroyed Fiddy's career and tarnished the slowly-fading image of superproducer Timbaland).

Rather, it's been revived by a white boy with Garageband on his Mac. Albeit a heartless, chauvinistic white boy with no ambitions beyond getting the girl in "the see-through shirt" and "daisy dukes." Which is cool with me.

Want is an album I'm not sure I could swallow completely. I mean, there's only so much yelling "BI***!"that a man can take, especially when it's blasting out of headphones or during rush hour. But three cuts off the album--which is fantastic in its entirety, by the way--are strong enough that I have to write about them.

(For the record, I heard about 3OH!3 when my brother showed me their Myspace a week ago. Thanks, Bo! You were actually helpful!)

Aside from "Starstrukk," with it's scratched-up beat and whistling effects, both "Punk Bi***" and "I'm Not Your Boyfriend Baby" impressed me. "Starstrukk" is the best track though, with brutal lyrics and an out-of-this-world instrumental during the chorus, which makes me wonder why producers like Nate "Danja" Hills are paid any money at all when a little white boy from Colorado can outproduce them in quality ten times over.

"Punk Bi***" has a typical hip-hop flow, which is a bad thing, with a Linkin Park-esque chorus, which is a worse thing. There's even "popping them bottles" in the chorus, which is the worst lyrical sin any artist can commit in my book. But "Punk" succeeds because of a fantastic synth line and enough tempo variation that similarities to other tracks (anything by...*gulp*...T-Pain) kind of melts away. It's the weakest of the three tracks, but I can see this attracting prepubescent boys to radio again, after Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" scared them away.

I'm assuming "I'm Not Your Boyfriend Baby" is the highlight of 3OH!3's show at the Warped Tour. It begins with echoing arena synths and the lead singer yelling out the title of the song; as the chorus builds, he sounds so full of energy--even screaming out a victorious (or drug-addled) "WHOO!"--you kind of want to run someone over. Aggression can most certainly be transferred musically, and I promise you will be riled up after listening. With the exception of a whiny, Boys Like Girls-gross-out chorus segment reminiscent of something Panic! would write, "Boyfriend" is essentially the antithesis to all girl-pop. It's douche-y, but I think after Rihanna and Perry have dominated the men on the air for so long now the guys deserve an opportunity to vent.

On an entirely different note, Imogen Heap recently released a single off her upcoming album, which I did not take the time to look up. I love Imogen Heap--an adjective I rarely use to describe musicians--but the song, "Not Now But Soon" is like the worst songs off Frou-Frou's Details: beat-less, boring and far too ambient like for my taste. I think it hints at great things to come, though. There's a neat five-note trill during some segments, and her voice is still clear and distinguishable. I kind of fell out of Immi interest after seeing her in November 2006, but I'm totally ready for another Speak For Yourself.

Great haircut, though.

Review: Katy Perry, "One Of The Boys"

Katy Perry's album dropped on Tuesday, and I promptly drove to Flightpath to pick up Wifi and download it off iTunes. Stupidly, though, I downloaded the whole album--it was $7.99 and seemed like such a good deal at the moment--before realizing I had three of the songs already, which weren't part of the "complete my album" discount. So, in the end, I paid for a bunch of songs I already had. Let's be honest. readers (oh who am I kidding?!)--er, Justin: it's just not that great.

While critics are by and large giving her a harder time than she deserves, the complaints are legitimate. As a reader of Katy Perry's blog, I see how her "rocker" image is kind of a facade. I understand some people really admire her style, but as one critic pointed out, her physical appearance is just a combination of Lily Allen (a true trend-setter, in my opinion) and burlesque performer Dita Von Teese. Granted, Perry is far more attractive than either of these fashionistas, but her musical style is just as convoluted.

Disclaimer: I really like Perry as a human being. I love "Kissed A Girl." I think Perry is gutsy and unconventional.

But, no matter how often she checks The Sartorialist, Perry can't help the producers her label (the evil Capitol Records) chose. While I think the album is going to spawn at least one more hit--the addictive but dated "Hot N' Cold"--it is weighed down by musical production that sounds...well, like it was thrown together in 2003. For all intents and purposes, 2003 was a bad year for music.

With all the musical panache of a naughtier (albeit leagues more interesting) Michelle Branch, the tracks on "One Of The Boys" stumble one on the other without instrumental transition. The producers followed a standard pop-rock pattern, one that has been used more in recent memory than Amy Winehouse uses crack: 1) Start glittery, low-key elecronic ting track; 2) slowly integrate a strumming guitar; 3) fade in the electric guitar and abruptly bang out the drums, 4) start chorus and repeat.

I guess I'm being a bit hard on her, too. I just wanted Perry to be successful. I still want her to be successful. She's not a bad girl. She's not a rocker chick at all, really; she's tender and gentle and, at the heart of her lesbian-esque writing tendencies, a vulnerable young girl in the middle of numerous life transitions. As a Christian, I can understand her struggle a tiny bit: I'm a total believer and have seen the power of God work enough times to keep me within the folds of the faith, but there are so many temptations, so many factors that are working to convince Christians their beliefs are a sham. Of course, neither Perry nor I are stereotypical Christians. We are fighting against the stereotypes that say all Christians are judgemental and closed-minded and--ugh--Republican. I think this is where the critics don't understand who Perry is. They have not experienced the paradox of being both a Christian and being judged by members within the Christian community. That's where Perry finds herself "Lost."

But on to the good stuff. There are a number of catchy, authentic-sounding tracks on "One Of The Boys" (sorry, my italics bar isn't working, otherwise these titles would be elegantly tilted instead of annoyingly stilted by these pockmarks we call "quotations"). The aforementioned "Hot N' Cold" is a fantastic pop record, and is one that gets better as it wears on, peaking at the bridge transition: "Someone/call a doctor/got a case of a love bipolar."

"Mannequin," displaying a touch of lyrical brilliance on the part of Perry, leaves Perry softly cooing, "You're not a man/you're just a man-ne-quin" near the beginning and finishing will a passionate repitition by the end. The title track is just as good, with a retro-feel that elevates above saccharine terrotory. Of the ballads, however, I was not as moved. They are clearly not her strongsuit, but not poor by any means. "I Think I'm Ready" has a dainty, feminine feel to it, as if Perry is smiling as she sings, and "Lost" is pretty if you like 2005-era Kelly Clarkson.

I suppose if I had heard all the tracks together--that is, not already listened to "I Kissed A Girl" on repeat for three weeks--I would appreciate the entire album a bit more. "Ur So Gay," though, feels strangely out of place in this rock-tinged album. While I never liked the song that much to begin with, stuck in the middle of passionate pleas for love and early mornings spent over the toilet bowl (as on "Waking Up In Vegas," another track with clever lyrics and poor production that deflates the entire venture into "Hannah Montana" territory), it just sounds childish.

So there you go. A pretty good album from a very talented artist. She can do better. Her producers can do better. The best thing, though, is that Perry knows it. She knows she has to be smarter next time, more cutting-edge and less like her contemporaries. Or, perhaps, we will only see the real Perry when she stops paying attention to her contemporaries altogether.

American System Integration: Initiating...

I'm back in the U.S. and am already buried in make-believe stress. There's nothing I have to do with deadlines attached, no schoolwork. I really don't even need to write this blog, something that does occasionally add to my stress.

However, here I am. How sad is that? How American is that? I want to blog because it makes me feel accomplished and I love reading my own words. It's true. But at the same time, it would be far less stressful in my life if I didn't.

Enough philosophizing. I've a ton of meat to grind, so let's get cooking.

Spain is a beautiful country. The people are so sincere, and the Spanish live at a pace that all human beings should aspire to live by. No joke, the average work day (9 to 6) has over four hours of breaks. So the eight or nine hour workday becomes a four or five hour workday. The Spanish don't need to be babysat by their careers, and their productivity is still high. There is a mix of cultures, too, but the ties between race and income is scary. The darker your skin in Spain, the less money you make. I know that sounds bad coming from a white guy, but it was an honest observation. The poorer districts had more racial diversity, while the El'xample (where we lived) was wealthy and white.

Let it be, I suppose.

As far as style is concerned, I was only partly impressed. The people of Spain are a practical people. They love their food and their wine and their time off, but they are not superficial in any way whatsoever. Collectively, they are a confident and proud bunch of people. Usually this converts into great style. I've said it before: Self-confidence comes before good taste and good style. But the Spanish just don't care. I mean, they certainly dress better than most people in the U.S.--lots of skinny jeans, leather jackets, and loose-fitting frocks--but not with the carefully-articulated color combinations and texture mixes that pervade American dressing. Here's a good way to illustrate my point: Ralph Lauren is the American brand. The colors are primary colors, sweetly combined pinks and greens and cloth belts making up a look that appears relaxed but rigidly composed. Spanish designers (the huge chain Mango, for instance. Summer dress from 2007 at right) has shirts with actual feathers and advertises color combinations that are so off the style radar they shock the senses. Banana yellow and mango orange with a baggy pink sweater is a simply example.
However, the clothing in Spain has close ties to nature and the art of Antoni Gaudi, arguably the most influential artist of the twentieth century aside from Picasso. That's why black is simply not a wardrobe choice in Barcelona. When is the last time you saw black in nature and called it beautiful? French design is all about a rebellion against nature. Blacks and harsh blues with touches of polygonal prints are motifs found throughout all of modern clothing design, but not in Spain.

Zara, however, offers a really refreshing look at men's clothing. Besides being ridiculously affordable, the clothes push men to dress well without knowing it. You can buy a polo, or you can buy a polo at Zara. The Zara piece, though, will have a soft-cotton collar and a v-neck design, bringing both timelessness and a bit of immediacy to the entire look. But how would anyone notice that unless they are obsessive compulsive and control freaks like me?

I have picture of their Summer 2007 collection for women to the left. I'll post more from their men's collection later, or at least what I bought myself.

So here I am. I'm happy to be home, but only because I get to see my dogs and take a bath lying down. I am proud to be an American, but I'm not proud of how the states look from the top of Monjuic in Barcelona.

Still to come:
-My RI-DI-CU-LOUS ring
-H&M...it exists
-A few new artists

To close, I'd like to say I'm very proud of Katy Perry. She's frickin' stuck to her guns and now's got a top-ten single on pop radio. Way to go. Not since The Killers "Sombeody Told Me" has an artist written about sexuality so honestly and gotten a hit out of it. I have that weird half-happy feeling though, like I did when other favorite bands went big. Keane, Sara Bareilles, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Lupe Fiasco...but you know what, it's cool. As long as she's happy and keeps making music.

KATY FREAKING PERRY (Thanks JUSTIN!)

I have to tell you about an artist my friend (and fellow blogger at justinrwright. blogspot.com) Justin turned me on to. Her name is Katy Perry. You might have heard of her on Perez Hilton or any other music blog that seeks out artists like Perry that are just having their first blips on the music radar.

In a word, she's fearless. Her musical style is not so unique, playing a line between Lily Allen and a hint of Supernature-era Goldfrapp, but her voice is a lean slice of husky voicesteak. Doubtless she's one of the best female vocalists I've seen pop up all year.

Her singles are brilliant. "Ur So Gay," about a boyfriend who wears "H&M scarves" and "chooses Myspace over me" but "[doesn't] even like boys," is a great kiss-off and was a well-orchestrated choice for first release. Her second single, "I Kissed A Girl" is the superior song, though, in my opinion. While I can see why she wouldn't have "Girl" be her first entry into the music world (she'd be pigeonholed as another Peaches with lesbian tendencies--not a safe place in pop music), it's a fantastic follow-up to "Gay." Electronic riffs and a perfectly layered vocal track make club play very likely. That is, if the guys in the clubs don't mind the threatening "I kissed a girl/and I liked it" chorus.

...and she's FREAKING HOT!