She's a little Tori Amos, a little Ben Folds, a little Peggy Lee ... She's even a little Eminem. The only thing Nellie McKay isn't is normal, and she's great at it.

The 19-year-old singer-songwriter jazz pianist released her first album, Get Away From Me, just last month and has been gaining steam ever since.

At first glance, the casual listener may pass her off as a slightly bouncier derivative of Norah Jones, but he or she would be missing the point. Even McKay's album title is a riff on the Grammy-winning artist's own record.

This alone paints a pretty accurate portrayal of what McKay is all about -- goofiness.

McKay doesn't write about romance or loss or teen angst. Instead, she sings about how she despises the Oxygen Network and obnoxious jobs, or how she loves her newly adopted dog.

Enter Tori Amos. McKay has a funky feminist flair about her, seen in such tracks as "It's a Pose," which is essentially an empowerment song accusing men of being the chauvinistic pigs they really are. Lyrics like, "Mr. Copulatin' populatin' masturbatin' denigratin' Birth of a Nation instigatin' violator of my escape" can't really be interpreted on multiple levels -- McKay means what she says, and there are no two ways around it. It's harsh, but it sounds great!

Enter Ben Folds. Pianist rocker Folds is known for having occasionally absurdist lyrics in his tunes and for writing about inane subject matters, such as being forced by his record label to write more songs.

McKay follows suit, singing about topics all over the board.

In "Clonie," she croons in neo-retro fashion about how fantastic it would be to have an exact duplicate, calling herself "a franchise like Walt Disney or Hannibal Lechter." Her rhymes often fit the wacky subject matter, pairing "Attila the Hun" with "cinnamon bun."

Enter Peggy Lee. To top it off, McKay's voice is amazing. She evokes the jazzy, mature vocals of songstresses of yesteryear with stunning confidence and precision. Although sardonic in nature, "I Wanna Get Married" is the best example of her multiple melodic throwbacks to mid-20th century jazz.

It's easy to lose one's self in her deep, promising intonations and miss her often derisive intentions.

Enter Eminem.

A few tracks on the album come out of left field and can only be described as piano rap. "Inner Peace" is a pissed off diatribe against the shallow, selfish people of her world, while "Sari" sounds like "The Real Slim Shady" meets Luscious Jackson.

She pulls off the sound rather well, but the tracks come off as a bit of a harsh surprise amid a mostly softer album.

The best of the 18 tracks is "Toto Dies," as it blends and displays virtually every trait and ability McKay has to offer in four minutes flat.

Piano, strings, harsh and soft vocals and acerbic lyrics create a harmonious fusion of indescribable proportions. Sweet as candy utterances of "Yeah, I'll have my coffee black/Hey, look we're bombing Iraq" pretty much sum it up.

She's not just writing a series of songs for an album; she's having fun and it's awesomely obvious.

If you're looking for a tough-as-nails voice like honey, then you've met your match with Nellie McKay.