This Is Actually Charting In Australia

Ark Factory - or the house that Rebecca Black built - has come under a lot of scrutiny since "Friday" exploded. Most of the coverage has been severely critical or at best condescending but they must be doing something right because they have another hit on their hands! Over the past week Alana Lee's "Butterflies" has slowly crept its way up Australian iTunes and currently sits at number 124. That might not sound particularly impressive but to put it into perspective - Kylie's "Better Than Today" failed to even break into the top 200. It's a real feat for an independent pop release to get this far and the 14-year-old is doing it with no promotion or radio play.

So we've established that Alana is chart phenomenon but is "Butterflies" any good? Well, the song isn't a genre defining masterpiece like "Friday". Rather, it's a surprisingly accomplished attempt at teen pop that reminds me of early Taylor Swift - only with autotune and a cameo from Pato, the world's least convincing rapper! It's cute in a Miranda Cosgrove on acid kind of way and Alana proves to be less annoying than some of her contempories. The video is also surprisingly tasteful by Ark's standards. There's no cruising around town with 30 year old gangstas or crazy tween parties. Alana just fights over the affections of a boy at school. Think Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" on a $500 budget. Check out the (new) Hit Factory's latest iTunes smash below.