Katy Rose
“Because I Can”
V2 Records
“And if I miss my graduation, I’ll have one f*cking long vacation.”
— From Katy Rose’s “Vacation”
Pseudo teen-pop-that-really-isn’t-that-pop has really taken off in the past few years.
You’ve got your serious folk-influenced singer/songwriter, Michelle Branch; your piano balladeer, Vanessa Carlton; your punk wannabe, Avril Lavigne; or new comer, the somewhat rock-infused Fefe Dobson. And now you have Katy Rose.
That’s not to say Rose should (or shouldn’t for that matter) be lumped in amongst her new musical contemporaries. As her official bio clearly declares: “Never, ever compare Katy Rose to fellow female singer songwriters. ‘I want to be my own person. I hope people take what I do as my own, and don’t label me.'”
Okay, so sure, she’s a teenager. And her music does sometimes sound like Branch’s or Dobson’s. That doesn’t mean we can’t take Rose’s work on its own merit.
The California native caught her first break when her song “Lemon” was included in the movie “Thirteen” (and it�s soundtrack). Now signed to V2 Records, the home of such bands as The Datsuns, The Crystal Method and The White Stripes, 16-year-old Rose seems poised for stardom with the release of her new disc.
So, how does this young singers debut effort, the defiantly titled “Because I Can,” stack up?
Rose’s music is somewhat reminiscent of Liz Phair’s work (in fact, she’s opening for Phair on her current tour). Much has been made of Rose’s gift for strong lyrics (she had a hand in writing each of the 12 songs on the disc). I found the disc’s lyrics to be more hit than miss: sometimes really deep and interesting and occasionally goofy or silly. In the bio on her official Web site, Rose says, “I got serious about songwriting when I was 13 … I was having problems at home, I was having problems at school, problems with myself, being in my own skin … I felt abandoned, so I grew up really fast. I started writing music as an outlet that wasn’t self-destructive.”
The disc’s lead off track, “Overdrive,” is also Rose’s first single (with an accompanying video in moderate rotation on MTV — note: while the video shows Rose playing drums, she didn’t play any on the disc). Clocking in at just under 3 minutes, “Overdrive” seems an odd choice as a lead off single, although the song’s pop-like feel makes it one of the more accessible songs off “Because.”
“Watching the Rain” is probably Rose’s most intriguing song. After seamlessly beginning off the end of the preceding track, the song’s verses play out like spoken word, pretty similar to the Butthole Surfers hit “Pepper,” with a catchy chorus of “Watching the rain fall down.”
“Teachin’ Myself to Dream” is another jem — the song reminds me of Branch’s “All You Wanted,” only slower — and features probably the strongest lyrics of the whole disc with imagery that shifts from literal to poetic and back.
The rest of the tracks swing through a range of genres: there�s the brooding, bluesy ballad “Snowflakes,” the acoustic folk-sounding “Original Skin,” the almost psychedelic “Enchanted” and the more rock-centric tracks like “Vacation,” “Catch My Fall” and “I Like.”
In short, there seems to be something for everyone, and while each song borders on pop, there’s enough of the other influences to place this release firmly outside the “pop-box.”
