The New York-slash-Canada quartet could be described as an amalgam of the best parts of Kelis and the worst parts of Missy Elliott. Meaning, they cleverly craft songs that let their freak flag fly, but at times leave it hanging out there a little too long. How To Be a Lady pushes R&B infused Pop to some abstract lengths with the help of Tricky Stewart and The-Dream through smart synthy production and catchy hooks. The opener "Muah" despite its lame title and kitschy lyrics carries a mellow vibe thanks to the breezy beat. "Muah" leads into "So Good", a mid-'90s R&B styled track with The-Dream's fingerprints all over it, even with Lil Wayne [click to  read] on the remix. "Devotion" is an obvious Ciara jack, with "Freaky Freaky" and "Go Shawty" being less obvious ones. There's also a healthy balance of good vs. awful tracks. The good ones being the early Janet Jackson-tinged "Bed Rest" and "Friend Lover", and the single "Drink In My Cup". The awful tracks, "P Is For Power" and "W.F.Y." are considerably terrible, packing curses for the sake of cursing and misguided man-hating. The rest of the songs fall somewhere in the middle, drumming up some slight curiosity for Volume 2.

While it's become common practice for female singers to insert profanity here and there in their music, Electrik Red takes it a little too far with more four-letter words than anything else at times. Forced edge always sounds contrived, and that's where How To Be a Lady takes its biggest hit (besides being a complete contradiction to the album title).

Elecktrik Red, like most music out today, will be refreshing to some and ridiculous to others. Having been aligned with the right producers from the start, there's considerable room for growth, provided they aren't too hung up on the badass shtick. It would be a shame to let poor packaging ruin a group of girls who actually know how to sing.