Bonnie McKee is hot. And she knows it. The 19-year-old rock songstress has enough moxie and conceit to rival that of Fiona Apple or Liz Phair. Her debut disc, "Trouble," is a handcrafted ode to girly rock. McKee wrote all 13 tracks on her first album before she was 16, and though the lyrics may sound clich?d, her voice makes it work.
The tomato-haired McKee started singing at the age of 5 when she joined the acclaimed Girl's Choir of Seattle, an indispensable learning experience that exposed her to the songwriting of Carole King and the pageantry of Michael Jackson. McKee began writing her own music at the age of 12 and began appearing at open-mic nights in clubs across Seattle.
It was in Seattle's clubs that the Bonnie lass honed her performance skills. McKee single-handedly put together her first demo as part of a junior high school project, using fellow students as her back-up band. With demanding vocal training, McKee perfected the amazing voice heard on her debut album.
At 16, the prodigy wrote, produced and performed a six-song EP, which gained her fervent media attention and led her to a contract with Reprise Records. Another feat for the now college-age artist came last March when she was chosen to play Janis Joplin on NBC's "American Dreams" and performed a version of the incomparable "Summertime."
The title track on "Trouble" talks about a player that Bonnie got with and got screwed by (Haven't we all been there). Her classically trained voice adds a distinctly clean feel to the rock edge of the lyrics.
Her music could be described as girly pop rock with the soul of Joss Stone, the sleepover quality of Britney Spears (and a tad of the sluttishness) and the eccentricities of Fiona Apple.
Most of the songs on the album are fiercely independent odes to being a teenage gir, like the last song on the album, "Confessions of a Teenage Girl." This track features lyrics like, "I don't cry to get attention/Most of the time/ I do some damage/ I use my gender to my advantage/ Is this a crime?"
"January" is one of the more provocative tracks on the record. It's about being "illegal" at 17 and being with (ahem) someone much older. "You say although your love for me is strong/That a lover under 17 is wrong/I'm counting down the days on my calendar/Till loving me won't be a sin."
McKee is a "cutting edge choir girl" who delivers a nearly brilliant album to rival the pseudo-artistry of other pop-rock princesses. The rocker chick bent may not be completely original, but she addresses a lot of serious issues. Like having sex with older men.
