Katy Perry: One Of The Boys

Under normal circumstances, an image-conscious pop

tart like Katy Perry would earn a modicum of respect for co-writing her debut

album, but One Of The Boys suggests that she should have gone with the

hired-gun mentality of her post-Britney peers. At least then Perry could

deflect some of the blame for sophomore-creative-writing-course-caliber lyrics

like "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes / Yeah, you PMS like a

bitch, I would know." Such calculated sass might be endearing to the

MySpace-addled generation the 23-year-old Perry is obviously courting, but

those who have outgrown their training bras (and who don't idolize

celebrity-gossip maggot and Perry's number-one cheerleader, Perez Hilton) will

be hard-pressed to find much to enjoy on Boys. While undeniably catchy,

the hyper-produced songs have a familiar radio-ready quality that becomes

infuriatingly mind-numbing over time, and Perry's vocals sound like a

less-soulful Kelly Clarkson at best, a drunken, spurned sorority girl at worst.

Any redeeming camp value that could be begrudgingly afforded to songs like "Mannequin"

("You're not a man, you're just a mannequin") is overruled by the sense that

Perry intends for her lyrics to be empowering and insightful, rendering her

carefully honed in-your-face-ness completely fangless. Only the silly, slinky

kiss-off to an effeminate boyfriend, "Ur So Gay," comes even remotely close to

hitting the mark, mostly because it seems like Perry is, for once, actually in

on the joke.