Sampling — Aimee Allen

AIMEE ALLEN
A LITTLE HAPPINESS
Side Tracked, 2009

By Nick McGregor

The female singer/songwriter genre has never enjoyed a particularly joyful worldview. But if anyone deserves A Little Happiness, Aimee Allen is the girl. After growing up in Montana, Allen moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting and music career, scoring small roles on MTV and CBS before Elektra Records picked her up and assigned uber-producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse) to help with her slacker debut I’d Start A Revolution If I Could Get Up In The Morning. But Atlantic Records bought out Elektra, and Allen’s album got lost in the corporate shuffle.

Allen then collaborated with pop-punkers Unwritten Law, co-writing most of their 2005 album Here’s To The Mourning in the midst of a tumultuous romantic relationship with lead singer Scott Russo. They broke up, and just as Allen set down to work on her solo debut, she was the victim of a random gang assault outside her L.A. studio. Left with critical injuries and memory loss, Allen became passionate about finishing her record – take a peek at her bio, which cheerfully states, “Turns out getting nearly beaten to death was probably the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

A Little Happiness contains mostly stock reggae pop, mixed with a punky swagger – think Gwen Stefani’s guest spot with Sublime back in the day on “Saw Red.” But the contradiction rests in the fact that Allen recorded the summery, Cali-centric album during a desolate Indiana winter.

On the surface, “Change In Weather” speaks to that irony, while also referencing Russo with an “I’m finally over you” croon. The feathery fingerpicked guitar on “Save Me” contrasts with its weighty, self-loathing lyrics, but “Crazy” and “Calling The Maker” turn up the heat with ominous organ riffs and sultry lyrics. “Santeria” is a fun ukulele-led rehash of the Sublime hit, yet after that A Little Happiness turns sour, as “Silence Is Violence” opens with the line “Another song/Sing about what’s wrong.” Remember that whole “joyful worldview” thing?

So yes, Allen does sound a lot like Gwen Stefani. But her lyrical perspective couldn’t be more different, as Allen’s material comes from recent experiences with struggle, toil, and heartbreak, not uber-celebrity and pampered motherhood. Allen was even a vocal supporter of 2008 Republican candidate Ron Paul, writing and performing “The Ron Paul Revolution Theme Song” at several fundraisers.

Whether you agree with her politics or not, Allen’s blend of artistic depth and musical maturity is sorely needed – especially in the female singer/songwriter realm.