The soundtrack to Hannah Montana -- the Disney Channel phenomenon and rightful heir to the Lizzie McGuire throne -- is the No. 1 album in the country this week, selling 281,000 copies its first week of release. For those of you in the dark, Hannah -- a rock star by night, regular tweenage kid by day -- is played by Miley Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, he of the Achy Breaky Heart.

I've never seen the show, but lemme tell you: The music is pretty damn catchy (like a tougher, smarter Shania Twain). The silly lyrics do nothing more than sell the brand (she's just like you, she gets the best of both worlds, and so on), but the music itself is quite often postpunky, thrusty and fun, with grinding guitars and Cars-esque keyboard swirls. If you're a parent and your kid is playing this stuff, consider yourself lucky.

Also, give Disney credit for getting smart and not underestimating the tween set. The Mouse House has had a helluva year saleswise, starting with High School Musical, a made-for-TV cast-off that turned into a DVD/CD leviathan. The acting, the story? Lousy. But the music? Just try not singing along. Kids are assaulted with good music like never before -- in commercials, on video games, on iTunes, on myspace -- so the tunes you're selling had better be good. Sure, they have the money to market the crap out of this stuff. But still, if you want the kids to sing along, you better make it catchy.