Oh great – another Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch or Ashlee Simpson has come to continue the pop-princess passivity that has latched onto rock n’ roll. At least that’s what I thought when I saw the cover of Sandi Thom’s debut album, “Smile-it confuses people.” In a prom dress-looking gown, striped stockings and dirty sneakers, I assumed that Thom’s sound would match her fashion- girly punk rock in its most contrived form. Alas, I am guilty of stereotyping fashion sense to music genre, but style has become such a staple in the music industry that is difficult to separate. The very word “emo” brings to mind boys in skinny jeans and eye liner.

Anticipating rock songs about love and happiness, I instead got pop songs about love and happiness. Not much of a change, but enough to shock me and almost make me refuse to listen any further. Released to the U.S. on September 12, 2006 by Columbia Records, the album contains 10 tracks with pop flavor, spliced with bits of folk, soul and country.

Though Thom cites Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Aretha Franklin as influences, the 24 year-old singer-songwriter from Scotland comes off sounding more like a contestant from American Idol, a diluted version of Carrie Underwood. And while her voice is decent, at times it is irritating in an attempt to reach a higher range, as in the song Little Remedy. Thom also employs a bizarre Xena-like cry in When horsepower meant what it said. Scary.

My main problem with the album was that it lacked a “voice.” Thom’s vocals were, for the most part, okay, the backing band was decent but the album itself just didn’t speak to me. It seemed like Thom was more interested in showcasing her vocal abilities than in demonstrating lyrical genius, a necessity for any artist in the singer-songwriter camp.

Having written or co-written all of the songs, a lot of what Thom had to say was too obvious that it seemed cheesy. In Castles Thom sings about life: “Sometimes it’s better sometimes it’s worse/ sometimes it heals sometimes it hurts.” In Time, she sings, “Time catches everyone/ and the world goes around the sun.”

The cheesiest song may be Superman, where Thom, accompanied by acoustic guitar, sings, “I don’t want the stars/ or Venus or Mars/ don’t want superman/ don’t need wonderland/ just want you to love me.” This stuff is definitely too saccharine for rock.

The only stand-out track is the single I wish I was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in my Hair). The only song with interesting perspectives and rich imagery, Thom cites her nostalgia for the simpler years of the sixties and seventies, stating that she was “born too late into a world that doesn’t care.” However, her nostalgia seems contradictory, especially in her desire to become a punk rocker with flowers in her hair. Isn’t that an oxymoron? I thought punk rockers despised hippie culture.

The only bit of punk rock culture in Thom is not found in her music but in her DIY work ethic. Thom garnered a record deal with RCA Records in the U.K. after setting up her own virtual tour, 21 Nights From Tooting. The show was broadcast via webcam and featured Thom performing in the basement of her flat in Tooting, South London. With a total of over 100,000 people watching through their computer monitors, Thom managed to garner large publicity for herself.

While the webcast show has been disputed as merely a marketing ploy to earn a major label recording contract (Thom was already signed to small label Viking Legacy before accepting RCA’s contract), the virtual tour has at least spread word of the singer, who was just another fledgling musician looking for gigs in London.

Overall, Thom’s internet legacy is probably her only distinguishing characteristic. In the end, Thom’s pretty voice just blends in with all of the other pretty voices in the pop genre. At least I should be relieved that she isn’t another Ashlee Simpson- we really don’t need another one.

Rating: 1 Star

Total stars possible: 4

Karen Balmes can be reached at [email protected]