Jill Sobule's summer of '95 hit "I Kissed a Girl" had her seemingly on the fast track to one-hit wonderdom. With her coy smile, alt-girl, teenybopper voice and ironic lyrics she seemed destined to disappear as soon as her video fell out of MTV rotation. Yet "Pink Pearl," her fourth album, shows that Sobule is a singer/songwriter of quirky depth and substance. Like on her previous album, the excellent "Happy Town," Sobule continues to broaden her musical palette with swelling strings, hip-hop beats and country flourishes added to her already jam-packed arrangements.
Lyrically, the songs swing between her memorable character studies ("Mary Kay," "Guy Who Doesn't Get It") and the offbeat philosophizing of songs like "Rainy Day Parade" and "Mexican Wrestler."
There's nothing too serious on "Pink Pearl," just another batch of fresh folk-pop from a girl with surprising staying power.
