Underdog Victorious is the kind of album that makes listeners feel smart. Catchy and upbeat, it connects instantly to spark a Friday-at-five vibe, but it also sinks in deep on several tracks.

Underdog Victorious

Underdog Victorious is the kind of album that makes listeners feel smart. Catchy and upbeat, it connects instantly to spark a Friday-at-five vibe, but it also sinks in deep on several tracks. "Tel Aviv" takes on sex slavery ("I think of my mother / I send her what I can / She thinks I'm a waitress / She's proud I'm a waitress") and the title track hopeless dorkiness, with its fat-kid protagonist, but even the heavy-subject numbers have a way of veering hard toward the lighhearted. Sobule borrows generously from Chicago for "Cinnamon Park," a throwback stoner anthem that should have been the hit of the summer, and her sleepyheaded schoolgirl voice wins us over in its lovable-kook way as it struggles to keep pace with the kicky "Joey," about a has-been teen queen. Where other "quirky" musicians stagnate or flame out, Sobule only gets stronger. Underdog Victorious is her triumph-tinged proof that in the gets-better-with-every-album race, she's the rare real deal. --Tammy La Gorce
Country USA
Manufacturer ARTEMIS RECORDS/KOCH
Binding Audio CD
UnitCount 1
UPCs 699675156329
EANs 0699675156329
ReleaseDate 2004-09-07

Underdog Victorious