It’s been a while since I’ve done an album review.  Truth is I can get very stuck into a few bands and just get lost listening to their stuff for an extended period and there isn’t much incentive for me to find something new.  But I kept hearing about Ke$ha (from this point forward I’m not using the dollar sign) and some people liked her and some people loved her and others hated her, but I couldn’t figure out what any of it was about so I decided I’d take a chance and listen to her album Animal.

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I didn’t find any of the album particularly noteworthy about the album.  It’s nothing new nor cutting edge.  It’s energetic dance pop voiced by a young attractive girl who is singing about partying.  But it is fun.  I found that on my first listen I was enjoying some of the songs and was already humming the to myself.  The thing that I was sorta impressed by was that apparently this girl wrote these songs herself, at least in part.  There’s nothing really groundbreaking lyrically here but I like listening to music from people who write their own stuff.  The thing I hate here is that often Kesha’s voice is autotuned when there’s no reason (most of this is rap like talking kinda stuff, not really singing and it’s so unnecessary).  Everytime it happens I cringe.  It really brings the album down a whole lot.

Let’s go song by song:

Your Love Is My Drug is exactly like what you can imagine from the title.  It’s about a girl who is obsessed with a guy.  Also it’d be easy to translate this to an innuendo much like in the Pixies Giganticwhere they talk about “A big big love”.

Tik Tok this is the big single (currently #3 on iTunes) from the album and is easily the most generic party song on the album.

Take It Off I think this is the first song that I really got hooked on.  This one is about a small dive club where there’s an epic amount of dirty drunken fun going down regularly.  I feel the vibe of the club in this song and feel the fun too.  It’s also insanely catchy.

There’s a place downtown, Where the freaks all come around. It’s a hole in the wall. It’s a dirty free for all.

Kiss N Tell is all about a girl who goes away for the weekend and her boyfriend cheats on her and she finds out and this is her basically telling him off.  I like the girl power here and the fact that the girl isn’t moping about it but is instead angry and more importantly done with the guy.  There is one thing here that is another issue I have with the album.  It’s that there are frequently references to things like penis’ but they don’t say the word (or any of the many).  That in itself isn’t so bothersome, but the fact that it probably is omitted so they can sell to a younger audience or play on the radio is.  It’s a shitty version of censorship.

Stephen is about a girl who has a crush on a guy named Stephen.  It’s a pretty good song if not like many of the other songs pretty cookie cutter.  You’ve heard some version of this song done by everyone.  But one of the things I like about the album is the sex appeal.  Kesha manages to drip eroticism through her lyrics, even ones that aren’t particularly suggestive.

I’ve got guys waiting in the lines for me to play, My evil girl the games of their mind, Just watch me, I got it down to a simple art, Just bat my eyes, like this,  And there’s a broken heart, But some how, you turn the tables, what the hell I can tear the pants off anyone else, But you

Blah Blah Blah This song is a total girl power sex isn’t evil song kind of in the vein of Joan Jett’s rendition of I Love Rock & Roll.  Also very catchy.

I don’t really care where you live at Just turn around, boy, let me hit that Don’t be a little bitch with your chit chat Just show me where your dick’s at

Hungover This is a song about a breakup basically.  I can’t really place it but this song just annoys me.

Party At A Rich Dude’s House The title kinda says it all.  This one is almost metaphorical for my feelings on the whole album.  Some parts of the song are awesome and other parts bland and annoying.  There is a part in this song that I love where Kesha kind of sings the guitar riff, it’s cute and funny and playful and representative of what I like about the album.

Backstabber Once again the title pretty much sums it up.  I could take this one or leave it.  I don’t have any really strong feelings one way or another.

Blind is about a girl telling a guy she’s over him and he’s going to regret losing her.  It’s kinda bland and is one of the more “emotional” songs on the album but it falls flat.

Dinosaur This is a personal favorite track. It’s done in a great playground style with background music that sounds like its out of an 8 bit video game.  It’s got an 80′s vibe and is fun and witty.  It’s basically about an old guy hitting on younger girls.

D-I-N-O-S-A You are a dinosaur D-I-N-O-S-A You are a dinosaur and, O-L-D M-A-N Your just an old man Hitting on me what? You need a cat scan

Dancing With Tears In My Eyes Another attempt at “emotional” song.  I kinda like the beginning and the lyrics in the verses but the chorus just loses me in it’s techno, which is another thing I’m not crazy about overall.  I think Kesha would rock hardcore with a regular rock band backing her instead of all this electronic stuff that really kills some songs.

Boots & Boys I like this song.  It’s simple with some great lyrics and talks about her two loves: boots and boys comparing how the two are alike.  It’s crazy how catchy the chorus is.  I’ve caught myself singing “give me boots & boys” a few times over the past few days and as a straight guy it’s pretty embarrassing, although not as bad as getting Liz Phair’s H.W.C.stuck in my head.

Animal Finally the album closes with the title track.  It’s a perfect song to end with and while I don’t love it, it has it’s moments.

This is our last chance, Give me your hands. ‘Cause our world is spinning at the speed of light. The night is fading, heart is racing. Now just come and love me like we’re gonna die. Oh.

Overall defiantly give this a listen.  I think you’ll enjoy it if you like fun pop.

It’s available through and Amazon: