Ashlee Simpson: 'Bittersweet World'

Cast as the daring rock rebel in the Simpson family reality-show empire, Ashlee Simpson is hardly less plastic than her nice-girl sister, Jessica. Her debacle of a "Saturday Night Live" appearance exposed her as a lip-syncher, and when she's not singing about her rocker-girl independence, she's working on Broadway. Lately, she and her fiance, Pete Wentz, of Fall Out Boy, have been teasing the tabloid media by refusing to confirm or deny pregnancy rumors.

But for Simpson as a pop contender, none of that matters. On her third album, "Bittersweet World," the defiant pose — "I just wanna color outside the lines," she pouts in "Rule Breaker," sounding about as dangerous as an unruly kindergartner — gives her fertile songwriting territory.

Simpson is smart enough to work with expert hitmakers, among them the producers Chad Hugo from the Neptunes (his partner, Pharrell Williams, has been working with Madonna) and Timbaland (who squeezed Madonna and Simpson into his schedule). And she's shameless enough to mimic Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, Madonna and 1980s hits from Toni Basil, Tom Tom Club and Missing Persons. The shamelessness pays off in songs with crisp beats, teen-seeking choruses and cheerfully obvious lyrics.

"Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" and "Ragdoll," her collaborations with the Brooklyn electro up-and-comer Santogold, are perky, syncopated staccato complaints. "No Time for Tears" segues spooky Eurythmics verses into a pop-punk chorus. Simpson ricochets from vampy self-esteem ("Hot Stuff," "Boys") to postbreakup sulking ("Little Miss Obsessive") to generically sincere protestations that "it's not easy bein' me." It couldn't be more calculated, but that doesn't prevent it from being catchy, too.

— JON PARELES