The Cooler Kids “Punk Debutante” (Dreamworks)

Compare to: Spice Girls, Aqua, Dee-Lite

Rating: 3

At the end of a song on “Naked Baby Photos,” Ben Folds says, “We’re the Spice Girls, we’ll be back in May.”

They laugh because it’s a joke and because the Spice Girls themselves are a joke. Comparing a band as musically talented and great as Ben Folds Five to the Spice Girls, therefore, makes for a few laughs.

The Cooler Kids sound strikingly similar to the Spice Girls. Remember Aqua? Yeah. They sound like them, too. The degree to which this album is painfully horrid is apparent right away.

I put on this CD in the car. Within seconds of pressing play, my mother said, “This is horrible. It kind of sounds like really bad Dee-Lite.”

Remember Dee-Lite of “Groove is in the Heart?” Bootsy was in the video, Bootsy being the bassist of George Clinton and the PFunk Allstars and George Clinton being awesome.

Anyway, it seems that The Cooler Kids are so bad in comparison to Dee-lite because there’s an excess of poorly used drum machines and synthesizers, with plenty of weak vocals to boot.

The Cooler Kids are pretty hot, though, and their name is clever. On the cover there’s a foxy female and male, sporting fine clothing with an anime feel to the font. The sticker on the front advertises having a song from “The Lizzie McGuire Movie.”

This sticker seems to explain a lot.

The first song being “All Around the World (Punk Debutante)” says, “all around the world, hey girl, zippers and your pearls, hey girl.” These lyrics and all of the others are oh-so-deep and thoughtful.

“Remember that Song” has plenty of generic “DJ play that one song” lyrics, which bored me thoroughly.

This album would be great if one was ten years old, or if one was really wasted, and if there were lots of other wasted people, I guess it could be called danceable.

But I’m not wasted — the album is awful.

— Ramona Muse

Mya “Moodring” (Interscope)

Compare to: Beyonce, Ashanti, Tyrese

Rating: 7

In her latest video, you’ll see Mya has become a woman — and if you haven’t seen it, she screams it in her latest album. Inside each of the tracks on “Moodring,” Mya gives a very evident display of sexuality she didn’t portray in her debut album “Mya” or her sophomore LP, “Fear of Flying.”

In “Moodring,” Mya provides 16 tracks plus a bonus, “Real Compared to What,” which you may have seen on the Coca-Cola commercial featuring Common.

In her new album, Mya gives insight on love, hate and breakups. With the presence of a few four letter words, contents in this album surpass the PG rating — this one is only for adults.

Mya hooks up with producers like Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, Terry Lewis and Rockwilder to create a sound you can count on to be unpredictable from track to track.

Naming the album “Moodring” was a great idea if we’re speaking instrumentally, which I must say satisfies all taste buds. “Moodring” runs the gamut from techno to classic old school R&B, taking care of whatever mood you’re in for.

Lyrically, Mya leaves the throat a bit parched. You can find songs about falling in love, making love, how good love is, after love, during . . . well, you get my point. To be called “Moodring,” I expected the album to be about more than just love.

Maybe it’s just me, but I would like to hear less songs about Mya missing her man, other women not touching her man and the ever-so-popular, “I love my man.” This is all by an artist who claims to have never even been in love.

The album does have a few songs like “My love is like . . . Woah” and “Late” that are catchy.

I am impressed by Mya’s analogies for making love. In “Anatomy,” she calls it a fire and suggests the effective “stop, drop and roll” technique. In “Late,” she references it as a pool when she says you took a dip.

Can’t get anymore romantic then that.

— Tiona Fowler

Boyd Tinsley “True Reflections” (RCA Bama/Rags)

Compare to: Coldplay, Pink Floyd, Neil Young

Rating: 7

The hollow sound of Boyd Tinsley’s new album leaves the smoky impression of just leaving a southern blues bar.

Tinsley, known to the world as the violinist for the Dave Matthews Band, co-wrote most of the album’s 11 tracks entitled “True Reflections.” This is his first solo album.

Most of the wispy songs leisurely ponder the ways of the world through the eyes of Tinsley, each track a careless stroll that’s easily digestible.

Songs explore diverse country musical terrain, from the acoustic-flavored “It’s All Right” to the barroom vibe of “Show Me.”

Similar to the Dave Matthew’s Band tradition, many tracks try to give the listener something deeper to look for in the lyrics.

One surprise of the album is Boyd’s cover of the Neil Young/Crazy Horse classic, “Cinnamon Girl,” reconfigured as a softer ballad.

This is a percussive kick, going well with warm lyrics.

Boyd’s voice comes across a bit harsh on some songs, but he regains his strength with his violin solos.

Chris Bruce’s slide guitar solo during “Run” falls far too late in the song, drowned out by lyrics that could be cut short to let the song carry itself.

Fans looking for extended accompaniment of Dave Matthews will be disappointed.

Matthews sings background vocals in the album’s closer, “True Reflections,” a popular Tinsley and Dave Matthews Band concert staple.

“True Reflections” starts quiet and grows to a full force towards the end.

In addition to Matthews, friends of Tinsley from the road contributed to the record. Jazz greats Dirty Dozen Brass Band and bassist David Piltch provide a smooth flavor.

Perhaps listening to the record in a higher, blissful state of mind could far exceed any expectations brought on by Tinsley/Dave Matthews enthusiasts.

— Jeff Christian

Cold “Year of the Spider” (Geffen)

Compare to: Staind, Nickelback, SouthFM

Rating: 7

Cold really isn’t very cold at all. Lead singer Scooter Ward has let all of his emotions spill into “Year Of The Spider,” the Florida fivesome’s third album to date.

Although this band is extremely uninventive in many ways, Cold brings a little more to their music than their nu-metal peers like Staind or Nickleback.

Ward’s sorrow-filled vocals create depth and passion in many of the tunes on this dreary, yet enjoyable album.

Continuing in the alternative-metal tradition, Cold is clearly lacking much melody or voice fluctuation at all. However, unlike other bands of this genre, I was easily able to understand the words contained in Ward’s mellow, baritone lyrics. This quality serves as a major asset to Cold’s music.

In track number two, titled “Suffocate,” Ward sings about his smothering girlfriend in a bitter and insulting manner.

This song, like many others on this album, has much more impact because the lyrics are audible enough to understand.

The first single from “Year Of The Spider” is track four, entitled “Stupid Girl.” It surprised me to read that Rivers Cuomo of Weezer co-wrote this angry and self-indulgent song. I didn’t find this tune to be as pleasing as some other songs on this album with potential-single status.

Track one, entitled “Remedy,” and track six, entitled “Wasted Years” are the two best songs on this CD. Both of these tracks have hints of a melody and stray the furthest from the nu-metal style. I felt that Cold really put themselves into these songs.

If this sensitivity had been included in the rest of “Year Of The Spider,” its quality would have greatly increased.

For being unoriginal in so many ways, Cold has developed their music enough to give it some individuality. This is a big accomplishment for an alternative-metal band, as it is extremely uncommon.

— Annie Krumhardt