I think Lex is pointing out that the pseudofeminist praise for Lily-Amy-Adele as the triumph of "women in pop" is bogus because women were triumphing in pop 12 years ago with way more individuality and aggression than the current bunch of pliant imitators.

(A counterargument is that women in pop continually needs to be reasserted, another would be that how are the criticisms he's aiming at Adele and Duffy any different from the criticisms that get aimed at Ashlee and Skye for supposedly being cheap Avril knockoffs. Lex's answer might be, "But they're not actually cheap Avril knockoffs, and anyway no one is praising them as the triumph of women.")