The project is feminist, with its close readings of key records by popular but - Chow contends - still underrated female pop artists. At the same time, it's about taking the music and sounds of pop music, and their effects on the listener, seriously, and challenging the assumptions about what constitutes 'quality' music (eg the literary lyrics of Bob Dylan) that tend to prevail in music writing and among 'educated' music listeners. I skimmed the chapters on most of the artists I didn't already know, while enjoying the overview essays and many of the individual chapters; artists including Kate Bush, TLC, Neneh Cherry, Taylor Swift, Shakespears Sister and more.
