Dirtie Blonde - Dirtie Blonde (CD)

All Music Guide

In an age when every style from hip hop to goth metal as been strained through the pop filter, it seems like any given artist could be successfully watered down to make a TRL friendly version. Dirtie Blonde's selftitled debut, however, proves this conclusion wrong. When most gritty genres are diluted for mass consumption they end up sort of like a Playboy model strategically smeared with dirt, but when the bluesy voice of singersongwriter Amie Miriello is worked over with writing/ production collaborators Robin Lynch and Niklas Olovsonknown for their work with Pinkthe effect is more like a cowgirl awkwardly shoved into a prom dress with her boots still on. Still, the album is by no means an allout failure; a number of tracks have insanely catchy and danceable hooks, like Walk Over Me, Shut Up, and Outta My Bed. These are songs on which Miriello's welldeveloped voice shines through, showcasing her raspy machinegun vibrato (More reminiscent of Feist than of Gwen Stefani) and soulful auth...enticity. Her highest point in this regard is on the wry ballad My Pride, a sweet and tragic torch song that receives remarkably detailed instrumentation from its teenpop producers, who accent the track with subtle touches of Rhoades. Unfortunately, even this song falls victim to some of the excess gloss that overwhelms the rest of the album. On most tunes, Miriello's voice is unnecessarily tracked several times over itselfa treatment that helps vocally weak singers like Jennifer Lopez but only detracts in this case. Generally speaking, the disc is full of simple pop songs that strongly illustrate the massmarket style of its creative team and the mere 12 days it was recorded in. Miriello seems to have been too far out of her element and as a result, cowrote and performed a lot of forgettable material. Even still, the release demonstrates the talents of those behind it (even if those talents were mismatched) and will charm its way into the hands of many on the quality of its few remarkably fetching cuts. - Cammila Albertson, All Music Guide Read more Less