In Brief

With the trio Wilson Phillips, Carnie and Wendy Wilson--the daughters of Brian Wilson--cranked out the sort of bubble-gum pop that tends to get filed under the category of “guilty pleasures.” On their first album as a duo, they are out to prove themselves worthy of their pedigree, with a little help from their dad and a few other esteemed hitmakers. In the end, though, these songs are just as disposable as those from the Wilson Phillips oeuvre, and often not as catchy.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

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Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://preview.nohib.com/soundclips