Every once in a while, there comes along a female singer-songwriter who seems different – an iconoclast, if you will, who appears to defy the conventions of female pop stardom yet manages to posit herself quite nicely in the eyes of the adoring mainstream media and general public.

Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Ke$ha, Avril Lavigne, Pink, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha. The ladies that at first glance can easily pull you in with all of their “I’m not like most girls” shtick but for all of their gimmickery, are more like most girls than most girls. But before a vocal minority can persuade anybody of otherwise, they’re all over everything. Well, fool me once; shame on you – meet Charli XCX.

In careerist terms, Charli XCX has made some very clever moves over the course of the last few years. Having thrown Swedish electropop duo Icona Pop a bone in the form of car crash/summer anthem I Love It in 2012; the Stevenage-born, LA-based rising starlet was featured prominently on hip hop giant Iggy Azalea’s monster hit Fancy before completing the hat-trick with the inclusion of her very own Boom Clap as the lead single of the soundtrack for the film adaptation of weepy teen novel ‘The Fault in Our Stars’.

Boom Clap serves also as the lead single to ‘Sucker’, Charli XCX’s third album and mainstream breakthrough. The album marks a shift in musical direction from her earlier work which was heavily influenced by then trending electronic sounds in the indie scene and the darker pop stylings of Siouxsie and the Banshees.

The wicked, sultry undertones of sophomore effort ‘True Romance’ are jettisoned in favour of a more sassy, flippant, “Girl Power”-reminiscent approach to songwriting; the persona that flaunted itself on the aforementioned three tracks brought further to the fore. This aesthetic is backed up with an artificial sweetening of pop punk/power pop sounds. Moderately crunchy guitar riffs are entangled with thick layers of synths and streamline beats, like some kind of new wave of new wave of New Wave. Think Joan Jett as covered by Britney Spears. Remember that?

Speaking of Joan Jett, one could make a fair claim to Charli’s Hanging Around being lifted directly from I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll. Break the Rules comes across as her attempt to emulate the badassery of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out, while the irritatingly cutesy London Queen directly quotes The Ramones’ Beat On The Brat. All in all, the rock ‘n’ roll aspects of “Sucker” feel kind of cheap.

That is not to say that it doesn’t have its moments. Boom Clap is a strong pop single. The preceding track on ‘Sucker’, Gold Coins should have gotten the nod for a promo release as well. With its clipped riffs and synths like something from a Tubeway Army album, Charli sings of the merits of tax evasion and decadence through a filtered mic in what can only be described as a three-minute long hook. Also, closing track Need Ur Luv – for all of its pseudo-Spector production and “shoop-be-doop” backing vocals – is actually quite lovely.

If you’re looking for true left-of-centre sounds and experimentalism, look elsewhere. The only subversive moments come in the form of the odd naughty word from Ms. XCX, and ode to masturbation, Body of My Own. 

Generally speaking, Charli XCX is about as iconoclastic as your mam’s apple tart. But that’s all right. It’s just not all that different.