A Girl Like Me

That squawky synth sample from Soft Cell’s ”Tainted Love” on sexy single ”SOS” isn’t the only thing that screams ’80s on A Girl Like Me — a sophomore disc which drops a mere eight months after the modestly successful Music of the Sun. The 18-year-old also unwisely invokes the chest-pumping days of Diane Warren-ified soap-pop balladry. And since Rihanna’s no Mariah (or Taylor Dayne, for that matter), her thin, still-maturing pipes are better suited for effortlessly cool reggae-lite confections like ”Dem Haters” and ”Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”