Kelli Ali will most likely be best remembered for her work with late-'90s dance hitmakers Sneaker Pimps. Despite, or perhaps because, of her departure from the group and return to a more rock-oriented sound, she is the subject of endless fan sites and bulletin boards. It's easy to trace Ali's appeal, having also provided vox for Satoshi Tomiie and Bootsy Collins, as well as for some recent Linkin Park recordings, but her second solo album again proves that she is more than just a saucy pop vocalist.
The album opens with a high energy rev-up, "Hot Lipps," that follows the vein of Peaches' recent guitar-heavy forays, but most of this album settles into electronically crafted pop/rock that finds Ali singing like a less jaded Shirley Manson over tightly programmed drum beats and highly compressed guitar riffs. She sings about boys, sex and even the odd stoner joke, "Home Honey I'm High." "Ideal" not only features a histrionic guitar break with sustained notes of passion, but also Primal Scream's Andrew Innes behind the fret work, while "Voyeur" offers a sexy slink (albeit with the cliché quiet-loud dynamic) that is driven by a bassline too hefty for light pop consumption. "Last Boy on Earth" makes a token turn to acoustic pop, ending this record on a disappointingly predictable note, but the severely flange-laden production again keeps Ali just to the left of the mainstream. No doubt her blog-fixated fan base wants to keep it that way.
© Joshua Glazer /TiVo