A half-century on, La La Brooks still sings about boys and girls falling in love. At an age when other veterans of first-generation rock movements are thinking about retirement or oldies tours, Brooks has come up with a fresh, energetic collection that doesn’t deny her past, but also refuses to succumb to mere nostalgia.
Brooks has a strong, surging voice that has deepened over the years, as can be heard in “Mind Made Up.” But it’s not as though the teenager who sang The Crystals’ “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Then He Kissed Me” was a cooing puppet for Phil Spector. Brooks’ singing, then and now, is characterized by firm assertiveness. She conveys pleasure in being the object of someone’s affection, but also in speaking her mind, even when the words are written by others.
