Vitamin C: More : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Coming off her hits "Smile" and "Graduation (Friends Forever)," former alt-rocker Vitamin C betters her 1999 platinum debut with a dozen ultra-catchy ditties that deal with some eternal pop dynamics: love vs. sex, innocence vs. experience, girls vs. suckers. Although Miss C gets plenty of songwriting and production help from the usual barrage of studio Svengalis, her own ability to wink at the microphone while generating teen pop's requisite sincerity personalizes their factory-made hooks. On tracks such as "The Itch," the former Colleen Fitzpatrick, ex-singer for the utterly unremarkable alt-rock band Eve's Plum, tries on the jiggy beats that didn't fit the Spice Girls. But she refuses to fake R&B's vocal bravado, and her lyrics, unlike those of her peers, never resemble poor translations of Scandinavian tongues. When she drops the playgirl persona for "As Long As You're Loving Me," C radiates a natural warmth that circumvents power balladry's hot air. If you crave teen pop's sparkle but spurn its saccharine, Vitamin C may be just what the doctor ordered. (RS 861)

BARRY WALTERS