You're Speaking My Language

1	Intro 0:23
2	You're Speaking My Language 2:14
3	Money in My Pocket 3:07
4	American Boy, Vol. 2 3:47
5	I Never Got to Tell You What I Wanted To 4:33
6	This I Know 3:57
7	Pray for the Band Latoya 2:49
8	So Amazing 2:19
9	By the Heat of Your Light 2:56
10	Got Love to Kill Remix 3:42
11	Seventh Sign 3:57
12	Long Road Out of Here 6:39

Barnes & Noble

Much like kindred spirit Courtney Love -- whose career path she's mimicking, albeit in reverse -- Juliette Lewis doesn't have the greatest voice in the world, but she makes up for it with a monumentally over-the-top display of attitude. Unlike most thespians that make the move into the musical arena, Lewis doesn't muck around with concepts like finesse or sensitivity, preferring to growl, yowl, and prowl through tunes that alternate between über-glam and gutter-punk. She wades hip-deep into the latter on brawling riff-fests such as "So Amazing" and the pogo-inducing title track, on which she seems to be channeling the spirit of X-Ray Spex's pioneering frontwoman, Poly Styrene. Lewis's ability to hold an audience may not be all that surprising, given her experience in front of the camera, but her lyrical chops certainly are, particularly on the stark, appropriately grubby "Pray for the Band Latoya," which is riddled with tales of crawling across strange bathroom floors. By the end of the disc, you'll be convinced that Juliette Lewis might really be a rock star -- and not just be playing one on TV. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Rock bands led by actors have long been considered a joke by most pop culture fanatics, movie geeks, and record collectors, and usually for good reason: many are quite terrible. But that knee-jerk dismissal of all celebrity rock bands isn't really fair, since it assumes that all these acts are merely vanity acts, and never manages to look beyond the celebrity to actually hear the music. This is a problem that will plague Juliette Lewis and her band, the Licks, just as it plagued Russell Crowe, Kevin Bacon, Jeff Bridges, Keanu Reeves, and any number of actors who have fronted rock bands or released their own albums. If Juliette & the Licks' first album, You're Speaking My Language, is judged on its own merits, it's not a bad record. It's a little bit too derivative, drawing heavily from PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop, and '90s alterna-rock, with traces of '80s new wave, but the band is propulsive and Lewis has some genuine power as vocalist, giving the group direction and a charismatic focal point. Sometimes, her lyrics are a little silly -- whether it's the attacks on Halliburton on "American Boy, Vol. 2" or her contention that "the world's gone crazy/but I've got my friends" on "Money in My Pocket" -- but her spirited performances tend to overshadow these indulgences. While there aren't too many really memorable tunes here -- only the giddy, poppy "Seventh Sign" really demands attention -- the sound is sleek and stylish, and the band rocks harder than you might think, making You're Speaking My Language a surprisingly appealing, promising debut. Stephen Thomas Erlewine