It's Not Me, It's "Me"

No surprise - Lily Allen's second time around is less engaging than her debut album. On It's Not Me, It's You, she's more of a caricature - the cheeky gal who says the things people think. Now, with the knowledge that there's an audience, she does so in a less breezy, more programatic way: Lily takes on hypocrisy, Lily takes on racists, Lily takes on bad lovers. That doesn't make them bad songs - "Everyone's at It" suffers from a chorus that may be longer than the verse, but it's catchy - and "The Fear" does the 'living in the spotlight' song better than her American counterparts. Where Britney et al act defensive and persecuted, Allen confesses that she doesn't know how she should feel.

Still, the most entertaining tracks end the album, as if Allen and company ran out of topics and started writing songs. Perhaps its no surprise that when the songs become more interesting, so do the ideas. In "Him," her meditation on God, Allen speculates that his favorite band is Creedence Clearwater Revival - the one line that made me laugh out loud. And it's funny 'cause it's true.