Love it or loathe it: ''Wind it Up''
Gwen Stefani's yodel-stuffed single, ''Wind It Up,'' is music to Jeff Jensen's ears — but it really gets Whitney Pastorek's goat
LOVE IT
To be clear, I hate The Sound of Music. It's stupid and boring, and if I
ever catch my daughter even humming a note of ''The Lonely Goatherd,''
I'll ship her to a convent. But oh, how I'm tickled by Gwen Stefani's
''Wind It Up,'' another winky and winning collaboration with the Neptunes
(''Hollaback Girl''), even with its what the hell? ''Goatherd'' yodeling.
Novelty tune? Humbug! The girl just wants to have fun. Better yet, the
girl wants to be funny. Can't sexy, fashion-forward dance-music divas
have a sense of humor, too? Like her cool 'n' crazy hit, Gwen's got
genuine personality. Long may the sound of her madcap music enliven our
plastic pop hills. — Jeff Jensen
LOATHE IT
Dealing with the dizzying effect of Gwen ripping off Fergie (who's made
a career out of ripping off Gwen) is hard; trying to put this half song
into words is damn near impossible. Imagine a cheer-leader being singed
with a flatiron while trapped in a pinball machine next to a Sound of
Music-themed carousel, and you're close. What hurts the most (besides my
ears) is Gwen's decision to chuck her feminist cred by choking out a
faux-empowering compost of taunts, grunts, and plugs for her clothing
line. I always thought ''Just a Girl'' was ironic...but any more ditzy
claptrap like this and I'll have my doubts. — Whitney Pastorek
