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Lily Allen's Pop Hasn't Lost Its Fizz, Bite

Lily Allen: "It's Not Me, It's You" (Capitol) 2 1/2 Stars

Capitol Records

With the release of her second album, Lily Allen puts to rest rumors that Capitol lobotomized her, gave her an American accent and relaunched her as Katy Perry.

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By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 27, 2009

Updated: 02/26/2009 03:14 pm

On "Alright, Still," her 2006 debut, Lily Allen had most of us at the first F-bomb, the rest when she rhymed "Tesco" with "al fresco." Cute and cheeky, smart and less shallow than she might have first appeared, Allen harked back to The Specials and early Blur. Cuts such as "LDN" candy-coated cynical sentiments in sweet, bouncy pop.

With the release of her second album, Allen puts to rest rumors that Capitol lobotomized her, gave her an American accent and relaunched her as Katy Perry. Now that that's settled ...

Allen seems to have been thinking deep thoughts in the interim, tackling God, drug culture, celebrity obsession and bigotry on "It's Not Me, It's You." Fortunately, she emerged from the brooding with cleverness intact, zinging away on "Him," "Everyone's At It" and "The Fear."

It's only on the anti-racist tune with the unprintable title (Well, we can print one of the two words. It's "You.") that Allen's approach lapses into the cloying - something of an accomplishment given the radio-unfriendly lyrics.

Allen's more on her game on the catty "Not Fair," directed at a guy who's great everywhere except the sack. "22" is a not-unsympathetic tale of an aging party girl, reminiscent of an Amy Winehouse tune with an unprintable title - man, English girls swear a lot - but with more compassion. And she shows a heretofore unrevealed tenderness on "Chinese" and "Who'd Have Known."

Musically, "It's Not Me" continues in the catchy, studio-pop vein of "Alright, Still," with some interesting touches: a cowboy-style gallop for "Not Fair," some oom-pah-pah on "Never Gonna Happen" and lilting acoustic guitar for "Him."

Download this: "The Fear"

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