Bittersweet World

At the start of this record it seemed like Ashlee Simpson had given up the pretensions of being a kerrazy rock chick and had produced a proper pop album a la Gwen Stefani. So that’s the familiar ‘Hey Mickey’ template of well-worked out melodies, simple 80s beats, fuzzy synth sounds and shouty vocals. ‘Out Of My Head’, ‘Boys Boys’, ‘Hot Stuff’ and ‘Murder’ are particularly strong. But as the album progresses it starts to go down a lazier power rock/ballady direction which is a lot less convincing (‘No Time For Tears’, ‘Little Miss Oblivion’, ‘Never Dream Alone’ and ‘What I’ve Become’ are the main offenders). Furthermore, the repeated self-absorbed, self-pitying lyrics about rebellion are a little hard to take from a rich American pop star, who’s had her own TV show. Then the swingy Christina Aguilera-rip-off ‘Bittersweet World’ pushes me well over the edge with inane musings about the state of the world and its refrain of “why can’t we all just get along?” The answer being – “we can’t get along due to economic inequity, depleted energy resources, ill-defined foreign policy goals, and unfair trade barriers, Ashlee”. But I suspect she wasn’t really trying to start a discussion.

Key Track: ‘Out of My Head’