Fannypack

• So Stylistic [Tommy Boy, 2003] A-
• See You Next Tuesday [Tommy Boy, 2005] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

So Stylistic [Tommy Boy, 2003]
In good Svengali-group fashion, they run out of material before they run out of concept, but not by much. From Belinda finding a quarter to Jessibel getting her mom to wake her up for gym, the found skits are set up by the scripted intro that climaxes, "Let's get famous. Let's get famous! LET'S GET FAMOUS!" That's the dream, and until a lawyer examines their royalty statements, it'll be all they want and the least they deserve. Three thin voices rap-sing-chant over the same bare-bones electro that sophisticates equate with two-headed dildos and black leatherette. But here, it intensifies the toughness, naïveté, moralism, sentimentality, ambition, ebullience, and sex drive all high school girls know but few have the sass to project and none have forged into art, especially with a Brooklyn accent. Imagine "I Know What Boys Like," which you remember, combined with L'Trimm, who you should look up. Both are on the mix CD their handlers sent out to beguile the press. I sure bit. A-

See You Next Tuesday [Tommy Boy, 2005]
The attitude is tougher and the material thinner, but you have to love it for not falling flat on its heightened expectations. Two albums in, these three young things still aren't rich--not with their "dresser drawer full of broken cellphones" and their homeboy who'll "rob Mickey D's for condiments"--and that still hasn't taken them down. With electroclash a dead delusion, what sells their handlers' beats is the girls' faith in the sacred mission of growing up and having fun at the same time, which in case you've been away is no gimme these days. A-

See Also

• Fannypack: See You Next Tuesday [0000]