It's hard to hear P!nk without thinking of the kind of “punks” that scowl in the corners of American high-school movies, possibly befriending some “nerds”, revealing a sensitive side, and/or standing up to a “jock” at some crucial point in the plot. Angst and outsiderdom with a predictable designated role to play within a regimented and ritualised ecosystem. None of which is a bad thing as such – teen movies can be great, and so can P!ink albums, if you're in the mood. Or drunk. This is her sixth album since switching from R&B to punky-poppy-rocky-pop for 2001's M!zzundaztood, and the perfect totality of her music and character is precisely as it always was.
She does the “hey kids, we're all misfits together yeah” therapy/feelgood thing (“Are We All We Are”, with its schoolyard chant backing). She does the sassy feminism thing (“Slut Like You” which puts Blur's “Song 2” through the American mega-pop wringer). She does the “let's, like, totally drink beer, dude” thing (“Walk of Shame”). And she does a whole lot of the “I love you/I hate you/let's have a fight” thing (most of the rest of it). As ever, it's a hybrid of classic Joan Jett bubblegum punk, hyped-up cyborg war machine pop-dance music of the David Guetta ilk, and that kind of loping Californian semi-rock the Chili Peppers do when they feel like another radio hit – all blasted at you like a firehose courtesy of the brutally big and penetrating production it takes to cut through modern chatter and sell 30 million albums these days. It's pretty good, if you're in the mood. Or drunk.
Watch P!nk's 'Blow Me (One Last Kiss)'
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