Underage Thinking  (Audio CD) 
by Teddy Geiger

Teddy Geiger, 17 and hugely talented, is going to take some lumps with the release of his debut CD--that's the way it goes when you're a blue-eyed, raven-haired, golden-skinned Adonis-in-training type. Don't let the hottie-haters distract you, though: this is pop music worth listening to, from the John Mayer-meets-Maroon 5-meets-Vanessa Carlton early tracks to later cuts, which bubble with something altogether purer. Geiger, known to the teen-age masses already for his turn on VH1's "In Search of the New Partridge Family" series and for playing a budding rock star on "Love Monkey," a CBS show that flopped weeks prior to this disc's release, sings in a ropey voice that's comfortable just where it is--mid-range and married to the feelings behind it. Which, surprisingly, are frontloaded with honesty and depth. "Thinking Underage," a song that does a neat backflip with the disc's title, is as gorgeous a sulk as has ever come off a major label; "Try Too Hard" is pure, sweet springtime. And Teddy, proving for all the world that the talent gods pick favorites, can play: hear him here on guitar, piano, bass and drums. -Tammy La Gorce