Lace (Atlantic, 1999)

With the overwhelming success of the Dixie Chicks, clones were bound to happen in the form of female groups. But this debut from Lace, the Chicks have little to worry about. Lace mines the same generic, overproduced field of bland pop country. Too fast a beat, too little diversity, too much drums. Too many monochromatic songs about love.

Lace, a trio with two-thirds of them from Ontario, falls victim to the same lacking in originality. Lyrics like "love is hard/Life's so good" from "Life is Good" don't help. The low point is Texas Ranger," about a woman stopped for speeding, using her best lines to pick up the ranger. It doesn't get much hokier than that. And just think. It took a grand total of four producers to make the disc. Rest easy Chicks.