Casey Desmond

Album Review

Boston-based teenage singer/songwriter Casey Desmond is the daughter of a pair of local noise rock legends who front the performance art freakout collective the Bentmen. However, in much the same way that Dweezil Zappa's pop-metal never had that much to do with his dad's knotty blend of cerebral art and knob jokes, Casey Desmond's own music is unapologetically commercial pop. A pretty redhead who looks like a fashion-updated version of Claire Danes circa My So-Called Life, Desmond makes a kind of approachable but not overly slick semi-alternative pop for teenage girls who are too cool for Kelly Clarkson but not cool enough for Feist: the guitars are fully amped-up, and Desmond sings her folk-rock-based songs with enough spunk that "Taste It" sounds more like Juliana Hatfield than Jewel and the harder-rocking "Sorry Ain't Enough" comes across like Melissa Etheridge with a less sandpapery voice. A few writing sessions with a seasoned production/writing team and Casey Desmond could easily make a commercial pop record as good as Liz Phair's post-millennium work; whether she has anything deeper in her is a question unanswered by this entirely charming but lightweight debut.