The Spirit Room

08/29/2001 4:24 PM, Yahoo! Music
Bob Gulla

As we trudge on through the teen pop mire, a foothold arises amid the muck. The 18-year old singer-songwriter and occasional guitarist named Michelle Branch brings with her the kind of solid freshness that few, if any, of her teen colleagues can claim. Centered around reality-bites songs like "Everywhere" and the reasonably insightful, Beatlesque melody "Something To Sleep To," Branch's debut establishes her as something more than your average teen queen.

Where other acts of the genre are clamoring for radio airspace by pledging love and crying when they can't find it, Branch's grittier rock 'n' roll finds in-between sentiments and tough love tactics that are far more relatable and universally felt. In fact, songs like the rockin' "If She Only Knew" and Fiona Apple-esque "You Get Me" sound less like teen pop than they do like decent pop songs period.

It's still a little clunky in spots (especially the synthy "Sweet Misery"), and like many of her toddling TRL tykes it stoops to the occasional clichT ("Goodbye To You"). But considering this is her songwriting debut, she's off to a promising start.