IDENTIFIED

Hollywood Records

Give “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens credit for confounding critical expectations on her sophomore release — even if it’s just for a single song. “Last Night” sounds like the work of a different artist than the Disney Channel icon; the Scott Jacoby-produced track is a surprisingly mature blues-pop number that inspires an equally gritty vocal performance.

It might have been a great jumping-off point for more surprises, but the remainder of the disc is formulaic teen fare — sometimes charming, as on the discofied single “Sneakernight”; occasionally club-happy and tuneless (“Hook It Up”); overall catchy enough to ensure it’ll survive a summer in heavy rotation before being discarded. None of it tries too hard to prove Hudgens’ sophistication.

As a placeholder for Hudgens’ future career, “Identified” serves its purpose, even if it’s seldom identifiable as her own work. Once she’s free of the “High School Musical” franchise, here’s hoping she picks up where “Last Night” leaves off.

— Dan LeRoy,

The Hartford Courant