Soundtrack to Your Life

So relentlessly catchy is "Soundtrack to Your Life," the single off the relentlessly catchy debut by MTV reality scenester Ashley Parker Angel, that the average vulnerable listener may begin to worry--after weeks of being able to hum nothing else--that it has literally become the soundtrack to her life. This effect can be especially troubling for boy band-haters--Angel, after all, was a founding member of the short-lived 'N Sync-like outfit O-Town--but it shouldn't be. On this solo debut, the flop-haired heartthrob comes across about as boy-band-derived as any recent entry on the modern rock charts. Which is to say, not at all. On opener "Let U Go," A.P.A. comes out rocking hard: elements of pop swirl around, but so do post-punk flourishes (a band like My Chemical Romance might have had a home in his iPod while he was recording). Later the disc takes a turn toward the mainstream, with "Crazy Beautiful," "Beautiful Lie," and "Feel So Alive" sounding as squarely pop--soaring guitars and all--as their titles suggest. But to discount Angel as a rocker because he has a way with a pop hook wouldn't be fair. Overall, this is Goo Goo Dolls-type rock, accessible but best played loud, with a surprisingly sharp edge. "Perfect Now" puts the point across best: In it, our melodic mastermind thoughtfully knocks an overachieving prom queen from her self-satisfied perch. The rub: he's not afraid to drop the "A" word in an early verse. --Tammy La Gorce