Ashlee's initial in-roads to the music biz was given a considerable boost thanks to being Jessica's lil' sis and having her own MTV reality show documenting the recording of her first album. This might have made her a lock-in for "TRL" domination, but it did little to earn her credibility elsewhere. Throw in a blown-out-of-proportion SNL snafu (To be fair, she isn't the only one who lip syncs) and her raspy squawk of a voice, and Ashlee's musical career was more or less a never-ending joke to many.

Still, even if she's hard to like as an "artist", you have to give her some props for occasionally pulling out good singles. The tender melodicism of "Pieces of Me", skanky pop-punk of "La La" and indie-swiping zing of "Boyfriend" still hold up as decent guilty pleasures, and despite being a commercial flop, her most recent single's early-Madonna-via-Gwen rhythmic quirks, was far more entertaining than it got credit for.

Added to that list is the recently leaked "Boys", which continues her varied genre-dabbling, this time planting her signature growl atop a likable reggae-lite rhythm. Playing an un-apologetic flirt, Simpson gets her kicks by getting men to fall for her everywhere she goes, cruelly teasing them with her batting lashes and "kryptonite" kisses only to turn around and cut them off when they think they're getting any further. "Use your head but not that one," she later finger-wags, the rough edges of her voice a bit more sanded down than usual.

If Lily Allen or Nelly Furtado were singing it, everyone would immediately be all over the song's nutsack. But because it's an Ashlee tune, watch for a completely opposite reaction. A sad reality, especially since this is probably her best to date.



DL: "Boys" (Sorry, LQ) (YFH)