Girl Authority's sophomore release Road Trip may be targeted for tween girls (ages 8 to 12) but the real audience for the recently released CD is nostalgic Gen-X parents. Included on the generous (19 songs!) play list are covers by such '80s era icons as the Go-Go’s, Joan Jett, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, and Madonna. Even some of the "new" songs are old. The first single is a previously unreleased Depeche Mode song rewritten by Erasure's Vince Clarke.
The nine girls comprising Girl Authority may be too young to have heard of Katrina and the Waves (they range from 10 to 15 years old) but they are all accomplished performers, having met while participating in a Massachusetts theater company. Indeed, the album sounds like the popular Kidz Bop series of CDs as sung by the cast of Annie. While each girl in the group has a distinct personality type ('Preppy Girl' Zoë, 'Fashion Girl' Alex, 'Country Girl' Crystal, etc.) they are all but indistinguishable as individual singers. Each sings lead on at least one song, though you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.
What Road Trip lacks in individuality, though, it more than makes up for by its infectious "girls just wanna have fun" attitude. Parents will likely be so charmed they'll forget that kids who just a few years before were strapped in child-safety seats are singing such auto-centric tunes as Life is a Highway, Vacation, and Car Wash.
Recommended for: Girls age 8 to 12; Parents who can stomach Radio Disney-style tween-pop.
Joe I don't know why but this made me chuckle. I think it was the thought of you listening to the entire album. Joan Jett... now that is going back.
Girl Authority is releasing a new Halloween CD only at iParty on Spetember 10! They put a new twist on songs like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash”, plus a lot more. The CD is great, check it out!