Fefe Dobson: Fefe Dobson : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

"Sassy" is the first word that comes to mind on hearing the ebullient music of FeFe Dobson, a precocious, bi-racial Canadian teenager. Guitar-driven pop, informed by an appreciation of bands that range from various Jackson siblings to Nirvana, makes up the bulk of her eponymous debut. She has a knack for hooks, as the first single, "Take Me Away," amply demonstrates, but doesn't sacrifice content. "Unforgiven" is a snappy, screeching "screw you" to her absent father, while "Bye Bye Boyfriend" offers further evidence of her sharp tongue as she dispenses with an ex. Dobson was aided and abetted by producer Jay Levine and master mixer by Tom Lord-Alge, and the resulting dozen tracks (plus the hidden "Rainbow," a piano-and-strings ballad) reflect a rock sensibility that swings from classic to thrash: there are moments on "Stupid Little Love Song" that recall the Eagles' "Hotel California," while other songs bristle with punk energy. It's an eclectic and impressive debut from a spunky but surprisingly mature eighteen-year-old.

CHRIS RUBIN
(December 9, 2003)