Lennon
is, evidently, at least some
rock
critic's idea of a wet dream, given her extensive prerelease coverage in
Rolling Stone
early in 2001 before her debut,
5:30 Saturday Morning
, was unleashed. Maybe it's easy to see why -- she is, after all, a teenager who not only shares a name with
St. John
, but she cannily fuses
Alanis Morissette
and
Lilith Fair
with a balls-out,
post-industrial
alt-metal
attack that would sound comfortable at
Ozzfest
. Somebody was probably waiting for that combination (although it's hard to imagine exactly who -- a handful of teenagers, perhaps, or maybe a bunch of guys raised on
NIN
who harbor a secret crush on
Jewel
) and it is rather startling to hear, especially because there's so much awkwardness here. It truly sounds like the stumbling first effort of a talented teen trying to find her voice, but getting bogged down in her own aspirations and the misguided commercial instincts of her producers. When she turns on attitude, such as on the horrendously titled opener,
"Property of Goatf***er,"
it's unconvincing, as are the moments that the
ballads
get too heavy with sentiment sediment. Those play so clumsly that they tend to hide songs like
"Brake of Your Car,"
a surging number with an undeniable hook that shows what
could do with a little more craft, a little more focus, and a lot less posturing. These are the moments that suggest she could survive past this frankly bewildering blend of bad
nu-metal
singer/songwriter
soul-baring. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine