When I initially heard “Don’t Cha” on the radio, the first thought that popped into my head before “How do you spell that?” was, “Wow, the Pussycat Dolls can sing?” Well, it turns out that they can’t. I mean all except one, named Nicole Scherzinger. If her name sounds familiar (and I have no clue why it would), it’s because Nicole happens to be a veteran of another all-girls group named Eden’s Crush. If the group’s name sounds familiar, it’s because they, along with boyband O-Town were contrived products of that American Idol precursor, Making the Band. And if none of that sounded familiar, you obviously had more of a life than I did.
The theme of artificial flavor continues with PCD, the first release by the Pussycat Dolls. While songs like “Buttons” continue where “Don’t Cha” left off (despite the roadblock of a name that screams boring), the album finds itself caught in a net of blandness and recycled repetition. The cover of “Tainted Love” is somewhat stomach-able but slower offerings like “Stickwitu” render the Pussycat Dolls as perfect examples of one-hit wonders.
Archived article by Tracy Zhang
Arts and Entertainment Editor