Title: Aaron's Party, Album Review
Topic: Aaron's Party Album Review
Source: The Washington Post
Source: WEEKEND; Pg. T12
Date: February 16, 2001
At 12, Aaron Carter's an old pro, having fronted a rock band (Dead End) at age 7 and released his first solo album in Europe at age 10. Which is why his mother/manager saw fit recently to write his biography, "Aaron Carter: The Little Prince of Pop." She did the same a few years ago with older brother Nick, who is, of course, a Backstreet Boy. Must be that n'sinking feeling.
Aaron's new album, then, isn't so much a coming-out party as a bridge between the older Carter's teen audience and Aaron's pre-adolescent constituency. What these fans will get is effervescent pop like the remake of Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" and the New Orleans classic "Iko Iko" and the bubblegum rap of the title track and "Bounce" in which Carter sounds like Will Smith (the ooold Will Smith) on helium. The Prince-edged "My Internet Girl" may be downloadable but it's also unbearably cutesy and Carter's even less convincing on the Lamont Dozier ballad, "Tell Me What You Want." You'll also have to navigate the inevitable, space-filling, oh-so-cutesy interludes (11 of them vs. 10 songs). Should sell billions.
-- Richard Harrington
Appearing Sunday at the 9:30 Club with Leslie Carter and Tik-N-Tak. * To hear a free Sound Bite from Aaron Carter, call Post-Haste at 202/334-9000 and press 8102. (Prince William residents, call 690-4110.)
