Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse bring feud, great tunes to American ears

There are a lot of questions a young British lass ponders while blowing off dodgy blokes, pub crawling, financing a flat and spreading rumors about an ex.

How, for example, does one dissuade an eager suitor begging to buy a round of drinks and score a phone number?

If you’re Brit pop star Lily Allen, then you start by saying you’re married and work your way through all the excuses in the book until you finally throw down all your cards and claim syphilis.

At least that’s the tactic she employs in “Knock ‘Em Out,” the second track on her debut album, “Alright, Still.”

Allen, daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, burst onto the British music scene last summer.

Though only 21 years old, the songstress is attracting a powerful following stateside and abroad.

Her first single, “Smile,” topped the UK charts, and she was nominated for a Brit Award. She’s performed on “Saturday Night Live,” and Entertainment Weekly named her album among 2006’s top 10 releases, even though “Alright, Still” wasn’t released domestically until January 2007.

Though she’s around the same age as stars such as Ashlee Simpson, Mandy Moore and Britney Spears, Allen eschews bubble-gum pop in favor of punk, ska and reggae stylings.

She leads a life one could delicately refer to as “worldly,” and her music reflects that broad range of experience. It has an edge to it lacking in most U.S. popular hits being churned out today.

Listening to “Alright, Still” at work, I found myself having to stifle laughs. Some of the lyrics are wickedly funny. On “Not Big,” for example, Allen knows just what buttons to push to get back at a former lover.

As she sings, “I’m going to tell the world you’re rubbish in bed now, / And that you’re small in the game,” you can practically see the evil little twinkle in her eyes, a strong pretense to mask feelings of insecurity and betrayal.

One of the songs, “Nan, You’re a Window Shopper,” was just plain mean. It picks fun at an old grandma who’s miserly, senile and always covered in cat hair.

But Allen can be sweet, as she demonstrates on “Littlest Things,” bemoaning lost love: “Sometimes I find myself sittin’ back and reminiscing / Especially when I have to watch other people kissin’ / And I remember when you started callin’ me your missus / All the play fightin’, all the flirtatious disses.”

There’s just something fun about listening to Allen’s thick British accent, and hearing novel words like “missus” and “mates” peppered throughout the album.

Allen has created some controversy thanks to public spats with the competition, namely fellow British artists Corinne Bailey Rae and Amy Winehouse. All three were up for the 2007 Brit Awards, and Winehouse claimed the honor, much to Allen’s disappointment.

Winehouse and Allen have a bit of a feud going on, kind of like the vintage Hilary Duff vs. Lindsay Lohan war, except neither of these ladies is innocent enough to be a Duff.

Compared to Winehouse, Allen is a saint. Winehouse has vomited on stage and has had to reschedule numerous concerts on her current tour, all allegedly due to excessive drinking.

She has also said in interviews that she suffers from manic depression, and has battled anorexia and bulimia. Despite the turmoil in her personal life, her music doesn’t need an intervention.

On the title track of “Back to Black,” Winehouse sounds a bit like Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday, with her rich, alto jazz vocals.

“I’m No Good” also calls to mind the great jazz singers of the 1940s and ’50s.

The track perhaps most descriptive of her current situation is the reggae-flavored “Rehab,” on which she sings:

“They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no no no, / Yes I’ve been black but when I come back no no no, / I ain’t got the time, and if my daddy thinks I’m fine, / They tried to make me go to rehab I won’t go go go.”

Winehouse, 23, is a great talent, and I hope she gets the help she needs so that she doesn’t end up squandering her gifts on a life of alcohol and drugs. I would hate to see her follow in the footsteps of Holiday, whose substance abuse and unhealthy relationships took a toll on her health and voice, not to mention leading to her demise from cirrhosis of the liver at age 44.

Rae, 28, seems like the good girl when grouped with Winehouse and Allen. She hasn’t engaged in the feud embroiling the other two, and her music is pretty wholesome.

But just because she doesn’t use explicit lyrics and graphic themes doesn’t mean her songs are any less powerful.

I’m especially partial to “Like a Star,” where she sings a beautiful, whisper-soft melody of a love faithful, supportive and true: “Just like a star across my sky, / Just like an angel off the page, / You have appeared to my life, / Feel like I’ll never be the same, / Just like a song in my heart, / Just like oil on my hands, / Oh, I do love you.”

She’s more delicate than Allen and Winehouse, and she expertly navigates the fine line between sweet and saccharin.

I like all three of these artists equally, and which CD I pop in depends on my mood. Do I want spunky pop, soulful R&B or easy listening?

Allen, Rae and Winehouse are great British exports that you might even want to pair with a pot of tea and a warm scone, because some stereotypes are still downright tasty.

Mary Ann Albright can be reached at 758-9518 or maryann.albright@lee.net.

CHECK IT OUT

WHAT: Lily Allen in concert

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 28 (doors open at 7)

WHERE: Aladdin Theater, 3017 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., Portland

TICKETS: $22 in advance, $24 day of show

NOTE: The Aladdin’s Web site lists this show as sold out