The First

Album Review

On her full-length debut First, Christia Mantzke plays spirited pop music in the vein of Alanis Morissette. But despite a similar overall sound, Alanis has better songwriting chops. In her quest for upbeat, danceable and (slightly) urban pop tunes, Mantzke loses grip on the songs themselves. Whereas Avril Lavigne makes up for the slick, music-by-committee quality of her tunes with infinite energy and skater girl charm, First is really adult contemporary pop, and so Mantzke would never get away with mall punk. Even Ashlee Simpson's slick output has an abundance of youthful hooks. Without these elements, Mantzke's best tracks — the ballad-y "Conversion" and the folky "I Hate It" — never quite ascend beyond tastefully pleasing but forgettable pop. Mantzke's talent, though, is obvious — and with a follow-up record that focuses intensely on a particular aspect of pop music, as opposed to a palatable buffet of genres, she could find herself within the realm of Top 40 radio.