Listening to
Katy Perry's litany of belched alphabets, fruity boyfriends, Vegas hangovers, and lesbian lip-locks on her debut,
One of the Boys, it's easy to assume she'll do anything for attention, and a close read of her history proves that suspicion true. Prior to her transformation into a teen tart,
Perry was a Christian singer operating under the name
Katy Hudson -- an appellation a little bit too close to Kate Hudson, so she swapped last names and started working with big-name producer after big-name producer, cutting sessions with
Glen Ballard and then
the Matrix. That was enough to get buzz touting her as a next big thing in 2004, but not enough to actually get a record into the stores, a nicety that often proves invaluable for wannabe pop stars. Given this long line of botched starts, maybe it makes sense that the 24-year-old starlet is singing with the desperation of a fading burlesque star twice her age, yet
Perry's shameless pandering on
One of the Boys is startling, particularly as it comes in the form of some ungodly hybrid of
Alanis Morissette's caterwauling and the cold calculation of
Britney Spears in her prime. This fusion is no accident, as
Perry works once again with
Ballard, the producer behind
Morissette's breakthrough
Jagged Little Pill, and
Max Martin, the writer/producer of "Baby One More Time" -- and that's just for starters. She also brings aboard
Desmond Child to give "Waking Up in Vegas" an anonymous, anthemic pulse,
Dave Stewart to give "I'm Still Breathing" a Euro sheen, and
Butch Walker to amp up the amplifiers, giving her a different sound for every imaginable demographic.