Oh snap! The Veronicas released a kick-ass album months ago, and I’m just now hearing it! What have I been doing?

And also? Imani Coppola, of the late-nineties hit “Legend of a Cowgirl,” is now part of a kick-ass pop-soul duo called Little Jackie. Their debut album only came out last month, so the fact I didn’t know about it isn’t that surprising. But still… I could have been rocking for weeks instead of days!

But let’s not bemoan the past. Let’s be grateful for the present. After the jump, I’ll get busy with a song from each artist that is currently rocking my world.

(1) “Untouched” by The Veronicas

The slashing strings, dirty synth beat, and stuttering verses make this song instantly stand out from most of the girl pop currently on the radio.

In fact, this video came on NewNowNext when I was in another room, and the percussive interplay between the words and music instantly brought me to the TV.

And then after all that herky-jerky, there’s a big, throaty chorus that sticks in your brain. It keeps the song dynamic and it’s catchy. Score!

Also? I love songs that are this insistently fast, as though the beat is dragging us forward like a giant dog running away from its leash.

(2) “The World Should Revolve Around Me” by Little Jackie

First of all, how could anyone resist such a cheeky title? Impossible!

And then the lyrics live up to the witty promise. Sweet!

The song creates an interesting paradox: The singer is clearly self-obsessed, but she’s convinced it’s one of her best qualities. She just lost her man, but she’s not sad about it, because he was too stupid to worship her.

And… well… it’s easy to sympathize with the guy who left. Narcissists are obnoxious. Yet it’s hard to dismiss the singer’s bouncy confidence.

It’s even harder to hate on the woman because this song is so much fun. When you watched the video, you danced a little, right? Me too! It can’t be helped! The music is just too sunny to resist!

How often does a pop song challenge us with ambiguity? And I don’t mean ambiguous lyrics that don’t make sense, Coldplay. I mean a clearly-argued point of view that flies in the face of commonly accepted values. Most of the time, the ego-tripper is a loser that the singer can’t stand, and we’re supposed to be happy the jerk is gone.

But this time we’re asked to support a possible asshole.

There’s some irony there, sure, but it’s not nearly as thick as when Robbie Williams calls himself The Ego. Mostly, it seems like the woman in this song is sincerely convinced she rules. “I know I rock, and what I got is hot,” she says.

So while we’re dancing, we can think about how we feel about that. You’ve got to love a song that respects us enough to speak to our minds and our hips at the same time.