With subdued "nice" girls like Sara Bareilles and Colbie Caillat ruling the airwaves, it's refreshing to have Katy Perry around to add some spice to Top-40 radio (not to mention a pop singer whose name can easily be spelled). The L.A. pop-rock boundary-pusher wasn't always this sassy, though. The middle child of two ministers, Perry grew up with only religious music allowed in the household. But when she happened upon a Queen record during her adolescence, her entire world collapse, forcing her to blossom from a naïve young girl into an acid-tongued firecracker.
This brash snarkiness is what makes her debut One of the Boys such a remarkably enjoyable experience. Boasting 12 tracks with titles like "UR So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl," Perry's record lashes out at ex-boyfriends by belittling the opposite sex, exudes unbridled female empowerment and coasts on blissful pop-rock melodies and harmonies. Akin to Avril Lavigne but with much more personality, Perry says things that probably shouldn't have a place in pop songs, but with the vanilla inklings of the aforementioned Top-40 snoozers on constant rotation, it's a nice change of pace to have someone keep it as real as Perry does.
