If her summer single “California Girls” — a track so bouncy it feels like hopping on a trampoline after six cups of coffee — is any indication, then Teenage Dream coulda, shoulda, woulda been a good one. Sadly, the album as a whole doesn’t match up to the single’s considerable promise; in fact, in parts, it ends up being a bit of an embarrassment.
“Last Friday Night” is Perry’s ode to debauchery: It’s about getting drunk at parties, forgetting who she slept with and having a ménage à trois, amongst other things. It’s all a little hypocritical — lest we forget, she was forbidden from “secular music” growing up — and that’s especially evident when she critiques a pill-popping, drunken ex-flame on “Circle the Drain.” Then, there’s a huge lull in the middle of the album; it’s chock full of mid-tempo snoozers. Elsewhere, pop-culture references litter the album ad nauseum, and while the production is crisp, it’s nothing to write home about.
But that’s not to say there’s nothing redeeming here. The best thing about Teenage Dream? The album is cotton candy scented.
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