In Brief

* * * Jill Sobule, “Jill Sobule,” Lava/Atlantic. Anyone with a taste for witty, wistful British pop will eat up this second album from Sobule, an American singer-songwriter with a droll sense of humor and a knack for lovely, buoyant melodies. Sobule’s pleasantly nasal voice is full of wry whimsy, the perfect instrument to relay the tale of a Catholic schoolgirl turned porn star (“Margaret”) or to express romantic bewilderment (“I Kissed a Girl”). Although a little too cute at times, the album is generally winning.

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