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Lily Allen: Critical Bust vs. Motostereoing Pleasure. We at donewaiting are so far ahead of the curve it hurts. The below appeared on the site here over a month ago, but it sort of got buried in the redesign. Anyway, in light of Pitchfork's review that appeared today I reckon this might be worth a look.
Okay, I was listening to Lily Allen's debut and thinking to myself, "Man-o-man, Tankboy, if this isnâo[dot accent]t great summer music I donâo[dot accent]t know what is." Then I thought about it some more. Stereogum turned me on to a couple of her demos a while ago, and the bloggerrati commenced the full-on freak-out. She was touted as a female Mike Skinner or something. Now that I've digested the whole album, though, I would say that she is actually more like Len with her reggae-lite beats and mockney accent.
 This doesn't mean I don't enjoy the disc...but then again I also like Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, and any other number of female popsters. It's amusing to me that crit-types are all agog over an artist who is really no different than most of the stuff they slam on a pretty consistent basis.
This is the problem with "everyone" being a critic. Pronouncements are made without further review and things get totally out of hand. (Ref: tapes 'n tapes for further evidence of the backlash that invariably ensues. Ref also: CYHSY, although this is not as strong since my own personal backlash with this group occurred before the tidal wave of acclaim came their way and ruined The National's tour.) Having an opinion is not the same as having a critical viewpoint. It just isn't.
So from a critical viewpoint I have to say Lily Allen's album is primarily a fluff-filled affair that gets by on sheer cheek and wit. If anything, that wit is the only thing that really keeps her from being a full-on novelty though it doesn't save her from the unavoidable quick trip to the cut-out bin a few months down the line.
My own personal opinion though? It's a fuck-load of fun to listen to and will surely see much play in my car stereo with all four windows rolled way down. [donewaiting.com]
6:03:14 PM 
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