A pop devolution

Poor Ashlee Simpson. Last year's meltdowns during both "Saturday Night Live" and the Orange Bowl halftime show left her horribly burned, but not altogether broken. As she explained back then, everyone uses backup tracks during live TV performances (I know a few thousand bands and artists who'd beg to differ), so why can't we all forgive her and give a listen to her new record of slightly raspy confectioner's sugar, I Am Me? We have our reasons.\nThe album's architect is producer John Shanks, whose booth skills since 2003 have graced cuts by Kelly Clarkson, Anastacia, Diana DeGarmo and Lindsay Lohan alike. The opening track and leadoff single, "Boyfriend," chugs along nicely as it establishes itself as the best song on the album, while "Beautifully Broken," "Catch Me When I Fall" and "Dancing Alone" are a sort of song cycle recounting her recent disastrous live experiences. But just when you thought the emotive pop froth couldn't get more routine, tracks like "L.O.V.E." and "Burnin' Up" emerge embarrassing and awkward, and dual-closers "Eyes Wide Open" and "Say Goodbye" resemble spayed and neutered John/Taupin outings with that duo's trademark tunefulness and spirited bite replaced with aspartame and a shot of near-beer.\nOne wonders, with so much obvious producer and caretaker influence on nearly every track of I Am Me, is Ashlee really being herself? Maybe it's best we aren't experiencing the true Ashlee on record. In this case, the album title seems to be a declaration of oneness with her own triviality. It's a relatively profound statement.\nAshlee at least deserves a pinch of credit for attempting to write her own songs, which is more than can be said for her space-wasting (and far less attractive) sister. Still, she can't escape the fact she's a product of her father Joe's mini-empire and her record label, both intent on selling records to the same faux-angsty teenage fans who've bought Hilary Duff and Ryan Cabrera albums for reasons other than a good laugh. Regardless, when meticulously engineered bubblegum like this rules the charts, serious music fans aren't laughing.