Dragonette

With Gwen Stefani sidelined by motherhood, Canada's Dragonette fills the No Doubt void by walking a similar line between girly electro pop and boyish new wave. Singer Martina Sorbara lacks Stefani's distinctive squeak, so when hooks diminish, there's little to distinguish her from crasser clones like Katy Perry. But opener "I Get Around" is a one-song master class on how to compress a complicated subject -- sex addiction -- into an ingeniously simple chorus.

By Barry Walters