Katy Perry, Teenage Dream
Official release date: August 24, 2010
The verdict: So, some good news/bad news. Bad news first: Katy Perry, who has already dominated the summer thanks to the ubiquitous “California Gurls†is going to be inescapable through 2010, at least. Good news: That’s because her new record, Teenage Dream, contains at least four more insanely, gloriously, brazenly, absurdly, stupidly catchy songs! (Maybe that’s bad news, bad news?) The fourteen-track Teenage Dream can barely be called an album — there’s no cohesion, just a random assortment of infectious, sunny pop songs, much lower quality modern-rock numbers, and wholly laughable lyrics — but that’s entirely beside the point, because, damn, there are singles on this thing. In addition to “California Gurls†and “Teenage Dream,†there’s the “Hey, Mickey Your Penis Is So Fine†track “Peacock†(best/worst lyric: “Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock/What you waiting for, it’s time for you to show it off/Don’t be a shy kind of guy I bet it’s beautiful.†Beautiful!); the sweet “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F),†complete with saxophone breakdown; the basically execrable, but still radio-friendly rock song “Firework,†which starts, “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?â€; and “Circle the Drain,†an angry slam of Perry’s junkie ex. If these all get packaged as singles — and they should be — we’ll be listening to her through next summer. Sorry?