POP MUSIC REVIEW : Scathing Songs of Betrayal From Alanis Morissette

In her recent concerts here, English rock singer PJ Harvey used the contradiction between her music (raw, soul-baring psychodrama) and her image (show-biz glamour girl) as a device to put an ironic spin on her performance.

Something similar, if less strategic and calculated, transpired on Wednesday at LunaPark, where young Canadian singer Alanis Morissette delivered scathing songs about betrayal and victimization while looking like Tiffany bouncing around at a shopping mall lip-sync party.

To Morissette’s credit, the novelty of a baby-faced 20-year-old singing venom-laced anthems of empowerment quickly faded as an issue, mowed down by her forceful performance. The songs were from her upcoming debut album, “Jagged Little Pill,” on Madonna’s Maverick label, a connection that’s brought her an unusual degree of attention prior to the record’s release.

Morissette is theatrical, to be sure, but she’s less pretentious and forced than she had any right to be--well on the safe side of the Tori Amos red zone in terms of affectation. She did tend to oversell everything on stage, sacrificing the vocal flourishes and subtleties (notably the Sinead O’Connor-like Celtic yodel) that give her music its distinctive emotional contours.

Going for the throat again and again, Morissette and her four-man band emphasized rock power. It made for a celebratory and purging hour, but it was only part of her story.