Aimee Mann

Though most of this album's elements are well tested -- clever wit and long, meticulously constructed choruses -- Aimee Mann's songwriting seems relieved to be unburdened by the concept that weighed down The Forgotten Arm. Piano and vintage analogue synthesizers dominate the production -- there's no electric guitar at all. "Looking for Nothing" is the strong, midtempo stuff at which she excels, as is "Little Tornado," which features a whistling solo by author Dave Eggers.

On her best albums, Aimee Mann has earned a rep as the Raymond Carver of pop: author of
precisely observed tales in which broken characters arrive at quiet epiphanies. So after
2005's mixed bag, The Forgotten Arm, a concept album about a Vietnam vet who takes his
girlfriend on a cross-country road trip, she's returned to surer ground: @#%&*! Smilers finds
her singing organ- and string-laden pop songs about a speed addict cruising the 4... More >