Artist : The Flipsides Title : Clever One Label : Pink & Black Reviewed By : John Estus Site : www.theflipsides.com

"Chick Dookie." Laugh it up and listen up.

It's really easy to give this half hour CD a quick play and say "cool, it's Green Day with a babe for a singer" or "eh, not another angry punk girl who listens to too much pop music." Fair enough, these are both true, to an extent. But dig deep, and there is so much more hidden beneath this trio's four chord copycat compositions and sweet-faced singer Sabrina Stewart's snarl-to-sultry vocals.

Stewart is going to be the centerpiece of the band in any light, so there's no sense in avoiding her, it just won't happen. In fact, in all fairness, the rest of the band doesn't matter! Except for a few Clash rip off bass lines and the occasional drum fill, bassist Mark Bradin and drummer Jim Lindsay are Sabrina's overshadowed backup monkeys, and they play that role nicely.

What songwriter Stewart gives us, in a nutshell, is Dookie, girl version(CHICK DOOKIE!!). People tend to forget that behind all the hubbub and money Dookie created is a punk-meets-power-pop gem of timeless and generation defining anthems that opened the doors for bands like The Flipsides. Stewart is the first of a hoard of female artists I've heard to succeed in matching Billy Joe Armstrong's slick and sassy pop-punk achievements with these 12 tracks of loss, betrayal, rejuvenation and revolt.

And I get the feeling she didn't even mean to do it, which is why she succeeds. She's on a bulletproof mission to shed her stress and smile, in that suburban punk fashion. Clever One works for her just as it should work for the listeners.

The title track, "Clever One," is the only song written in 3rd person on the disc and is more interesting than the rest. Not that Sabrina is dull, but it seems she has a better knack for analysis of third parties. A bass driven intro with some much welcomed feedback precedes Stewart's most convincing lines: "He's the one who makes you so tired, he's the clever one in control, you're getting stupid, I guess it's hopeless now." The track is also richer and fuller musically than the rest with a faint synthesizer as a clincher.

Other songs like the contradictory opener "The Best of Times" ("So here's to the memories, here's to the worst times of life") and "Make it So" showcase Stewart's sweet snarl of a voice. She gets angry at times, but her voice is never abrasive or Alanis infected, it's more along the lines of Jill Sobule or Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo).

I think it's safe to warn of a second coming of Dookie. Nothing will ever compare to the original, but Sabrina Stewart and The Flipsides are about to come around. They will be with us for a good while.