At first glance, Katy Perry's One Of The Boys, with it's catchy choruses and snarky kiss-offs to ex boyfriends, seems like an power-pop version of Jagged Little Pill with an electronic sheen. Upon digging deeper, you find lyrics fixated on redefining gender roles, searching for spiritual answers and leaving a mark on the world. Plus catchy choruses and snarky kiss-offs...
But what about those gender-roles? Besides her hit "I Kissed A Girl" and it's exploration of girl-on-girl action, we find straight boys who act gay ("Ur So Gay") and "PMS like a bitch" ("Hot N Cold") tomboys who started "reading Seventeen and shaving my legs" to catch a man (the title song) all set to pop sounds that derives from the androgynous New Wave scene of the 1980s.
A former gospel singer, Katy does nod to her Evangelical heritage with a biblical reference in "Leaving My Fingerprints" and casts herself in the role of prodigal son on the lyrically sublime "Lost" which features my favorite lyric on the album: "Have you ever been so lost? Know the way and still so lost?" In that single moment, Katy places herself square in the shoes of the modern former churchgoer, who is confused about God, about her place in His plan. She wants to pray, but "am I just sending words into outer space?" We search for something to fill that void, but don't want the pain and guilt thrust upon us when we do seek a higher power.
Unfortunately, over production cause some of the songs to sink. "Lost" is a prime example, the lyrics are great, the melody serviceable, but the music bed is cluttered with too many instruments. Song doctors like Dr Luke, Max Martin and Dave Stewart produced and co-wrote a large portion of the album, creating hooky pop music that becomes somewhat repetitive in nature. However standouts like "Waking Up In Vegas" "I Kissed A Girl" and "Hot N Cold" make this a disc to pick up, and the breezy power-pop-meets-techno vibe makes it a serious party-starter.
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