Home > Phoenix Music > CD Review > Katy Perry, 'One of the Boys'

Backstory: The lapsed daughter of two California pastors, Katy Perry has already hooked up with a mind-boggling string of the industry’s most sought-after producers and songwriters: Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson, Alanis Morissette), the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, Dr. Luke and Max Martin (Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson), Desmond Child (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi) and Butch Walker (Pink, Fall Out Boy) to name just a few. She’s either the most carefully packaged pop star to come along since Ashlee Simpson, or she’s a genius that the big boys are lining up to work with.

Why you should care: The first two tracks released from “One of the Boys” were both irresistible ear candy with just enough raciness to hold your attention: “I Kissed a Girl,” whose subject matter is pretty obvious, and “Ur So Gay,” an emo-bashing anthem that’s either horribly homophobic or a sly piece of social commentary, or possibly both.

Verdict: As with most pop albums this elaborately produced, the star of the show often threatens to disappear beneath a raging torrent of ProTools. But Katy Perry seems to be the real deal. On her strongest songs, she combines the best traits of Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne, a sassy, snarky pop princess with an appealingly vulnerable streak that comes through not only on big ballads like “Lost” and “I’m Still Breathing,” but also on the goofily retro title track, on which she’s bragging that she can belch the alphabet one minute and shyly confessing that she wants to be your “pin-up poster dream” the next. And there’s a consistently sharp pop sensibility that runs through the whole album, peaking on the almost unbearably catchy “Hot N Cold.”

X-Factor: Katy Perry might be the only artist on the planet who has officially been endorsed by Madonna, Perez Hilton (both of whom are big “Ur So Gay” fans) and the Warped Tour, which has invited her out for its entire 2008 itinerary.