Lily Allen: Carefree and Fabulous

Lily Allen is refreshing for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, her "anti-idol" shtick whether entirely affected or performative or not, is a nice contrast to the bevy of nauseating, ego-maniacal female pop singers in the business today. She has a fantastic, acrid sense of humor and does not let her wit get tempered by bothersome conformities to political correctness. She embraces being a wealthy, uninhibited young woman in her our modern world that is perpetually plagued by pangs of privileged white guilt, and frankly, I think she should be praised for her candor.

Pitchfork wrote in their lukewarm review of her record, "she's part of the problem and is plagued by an overwhelming sense of collapse; she has her cake, throws it around the restored dining room and then feels a tinge of panic while observing the mess. This is perceptive pop for a consumer culture OD'ing on consumer culture and Houdini investments. 'I don't know what's right and what's real anymore,' she confesses, sounding like the world's loneliest Real World alum." I think the tastemakers have
it precisely wrong, this record is damn good and Allen should be celebrated for her cheeky smile in the face of a dismal present economy. It's like attacking Carrie Bradshaw for being politically apathetic. I don't want my pithy pop songs to challenge my engagement with society, I want them to make me chuckle and dance a little bit. "The Fear" does precisely that. I'm calling for a return to Cyndi Lauper and Madonna and a distance from M.I.A. and Ani DiFranco.

Everyone's At It

The Fear

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