Bad Girls Club

Cole has been around for a bit, but Bad Girls Club (and lead single "Smack You") really make up the singer's debut work... and like the single and its video, the album is an impressively skillful debut that hurdles over many of the common missteps typical of the first releases of even the best artists. Credit is due almost entirely to Cole, who exhibits a masterful command in her vocals and the attractive confidence that comes with it, and to album producer Jeeve, whose arsenal of electronic sounds and beats seems bottomless and -never becomes repetitive or the least bit dull. It's a thrilling 37-minute set that plays like a great live set at the best dance club in town, deftly organized and timed by a pair of artists who may be new on the block, but they're by no meants amateurs. Very good work - and it's fun as hell, too,