Consumer Guide Album

Kate Nash: Girl Talk [Have 10P, 2013]
I'm proud when Kitty wets her undies and Kacey screws Mr. Acceptable, but prouder, frankly, when this likable size 12 lets her voice crack all over the big fat scarewords "feminist" and "sexism" on an album that gets dissed for its simplistic songwriting as if that wasn't the point. There are a few duds, and not everything is in the mode of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre--she ends with an a cappella lament finished off with a full orchestra. A lot of it is, however, including one called "Rap for Rejection," and should some jerk claim it's rejection that fuels her militance, she has the balls to leave the cad's gender unstated and write one called "Sister" that opens another possibility. Too bad the grungy "Under-Estimate the Girl" was consigned to YouTube. Check it out. A-