Published on May 26, 2004
The typical problem with movie soundtracks is they often consist
of a lot of filler to puff up the lack of original music.
Mean Girls does a little better than most, offering a
selection of upbeat pop tunes directly targeted to its core
audience, namely teen and pre-teen girls. Someone behind this had
enough sense to focus on the core audience for this film, and
create a girl-friendly pop album.
The soundtrack starts off with a typical movie soundtrack
throwaway track. Actor Daniel Franzese warbling Christina
Aguilera’s hit “Beautiful.” Lets just say that Danny-boy wouldn’t
have made it past Simon Cowell. Good thing they got it out of the
way early. I can hear the iPods skipping past it as I write. [
Editor’s note: in a unique cross-promotion, the Mean Girls
soundtrack is being made available only via download on
iTunes.com.]
Next up is “Overdrive,” a rather pedestrian pop song by Avril
Lavigne wannabe Katy Rose. This should appeal a lot to fans of,
well, of Avril Lavigne. This is textbook
new-millennium-girl-power-pop, and so should hit a chord with the
adolescent fans this movie will attract. “Rip Her To Shreds”
follows in a similar vein. Brother-Sister duo Boomkat deliver his
bad girl rave up, which sounds like the long-lost offspring of
Sheryl Crowe and Cindy Lauper, and is one of the standout tracks on
the album. “Built This Way” was built wrong. It sounds like a song
written for a movie soundtrack, and is generic filler. It might be
fine as incidental background music in a movie, but it doesn’t
stand on its own.
The next track is one of the most listenable on the disc, but
more than a little out of place on an album targeted to adolescent
girls. “Operate” by Techno-Porn queen Peaches seems a little
risqué for this audience. Granted it’s cleaned up, but I can
just see 12 year old girls digging the track and then asking mommy
if they can buy Peaches’ latest CD, “Fatherf*cker” where the track
originally appeared. It’s a cool piece of electronica, but probably
not appropriate for the target group.
“Mathlete Rap” is a direct lift from a scene in the movie,
dialogue and all. Pure filler and another throwaway track. Perhaps
the scene in the movie is funny, and the track will illicit a
chuckle from someone who’s seen the film, but it falls flat here.
Blondie’s classic “One Way Or Another” is definitely the highlight
of the album. What can I say about this song that hasn’t been said
already? It’s a stellar piece of 80’s punk-pop, a classic that will
survive the next ice age. Blondie rules, ’nuff said. Nikki Cleary
is up next, and she could learn a thing from Debbie Harry, as her
angry-teen-girl pop “Hated” fails to impress me. This track starts
out ok, but doesn’t have staying power. Another generic pop tune
that tries to get some sort of angry-girl groove going, but the
doesn’t deliver much.
Anjali’s “Misty Canyon” is a pleasant enough bit of ambient
trance-pop, but doesn’t really go anywhere, and I don’t think the
target audience for this disc will care for it. I hear those iPods
hitting skip again. I bet their mom’s would like this song though.
Last, and probably least, the album closes with a poorly realized
rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” performed by the cast.
Teenagers should find this enjoyable enough. For the most part
the original songs are ok, and will appeal to fans of the movie. As
an album, though, it’s fairly forgettable.