Jen Foster -wt Everybody’s Girl -wl American Garage -wf It’s always nice when someone comes along and actually contributes something of worth to the oh-so-drab world of college pop radio. And that’s exactly what Texas-bred Jen Foster does on her debut album. Sure, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, but Foster is already a mature and convincing songwriter with a great rock ‘n’ roll voice to boost, and when she’s even managed to put together a good band – rather than your regular soulless studio musicians – it turns out quite tasty in the end. -wm Everybody’s Girl is an unassuming and well-crafted collection of mid-tempo pop songs, with Foster sounding at various times like a less angry, Nashville-coated Alanis Morrisette or like a country-tinged Sheryl Crow. She’s at her best on the (musically) lighter and easy-going material. Songs like “I Just Wanna Be Happy,” the Randy Bachman co-penned “Ready To Go” and “She” (a lovely gay pride manifesto, frighteningly rare stuff in this vein of music) all show her to be a great purveyor of the basic radio pop format. She’s still a stronger one-song-artist than an album act as such; by no means is this the perfect pop album. But it’s a solid debut nonetheless, and should earn her a good reputation to build upon come her next release. -wd Jen Foster: http://www.jenfoster.com/ -wb Stein Haukland