Thirtysomething Boston folkie McKenna often comes off like another Dar Williams acolyte, but sometimes she's a bit more. Her waifish voice and pretty acoustic arrangements can give way to a snarling wit. "I heard about Adam and Eve," she sings on the skeptical, newgrass-styled "God Will Thank You," "but I still believe she never got a fair trial." Her coffeehouse jottings can yield genuinely catchy songs like the sensual "This Fire" and the sunny, bubbly "Girl Like Me." Unfortunately, they also yield some precious poesy, or worse, songs like "Pink Sweater," a rather obvious slag of hate crimes. Vengeful preaching doesn't much become McKenna, but the simpler, more personal emotions of songs such as the solo acoustic closer "You Are Loved" play nearer to her strengths. --Roy Kasten