PopSyndicate.com

The girls in jeans are back, and with a whole new collection of music in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Two Original Soundtrack.

The first movie’s soundtrack collection included the likes of Five for Fighting, Natasha Beddingfield and Chantal Kreviazuk in a bland blend of boring radio ready tunes. It’s no surprise, then, that the second film follows where the first left off, in a collection of music that ranges from country to preppy and unoriginal.

The CD kicks off with “Rock & Roll” by Eric Hutchinson. A little reggae, the song is definitely not rock and roll. It’s upbeat and dull, utterly forgettable as soon as the track changes to the soon to be forgotten Michelle Branch in “Together”. A little country-ish, “Together” is slow, twangy and backed by a very pretty fiddle part (and I use the word fiddle intentionally here). Michelle Branch must be jumping onto Jessica Simpson’s country bandwagon, and it doesn’t, altogether, clash with the sound that made her famous, if just for a little while.

“Sunset Man” by James Otto is the stuff that makes country so damned unbearable. It’s Tennessee cheese all the way, and the only saving grace in the song is that the fast forward button exists, bringing us to Jack Savoretti’s “No One’s Aware”. This song was made to be a slow dance, cello and choral backing giving the song very nice texture and depth. It’s downright the prettiest song on the collection, and one of two that I wouldn’t mind hearing multiple times.

“Friday Night” By Craig David is the kind of god-awful pop 70’s channeling crap you’d hear in the Gap. “Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)” by The Noisettes is my fav on this CD. Noisy girl guitar rock with a solid, snappy beat and excellent guitar runs, this song is boppy and a low grade of gritty, utterly fun. Of all the songs on this CD, “Sister Rosetta” is the only one that made the cut to my ipod.

“5 Times Out of 100” by Hot Hot Heat is repetitive in a bad way, a little reminiscent of Death Cab (but that might be the piano talking). It’s too bad the song isn’t actually by Death Cab, because then it might be good. For good, nostalgic fun, the CD tosses in Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” before moving into the soft groove of Mute Math’s “You Are Mine” (an odd song to end on, but not altogether bad, and somewhat reminiscent of the Six Feet Under soundtrack). Closing on a slow note, “Strange and Beautiful (I’ll Put a Spell on You)” by Aqualung is piano heavy and a little sad.

A few gems do not a decent soundtrack make, and unfortunately, Sisterhood 2 falls into this trap. The movie may be good, but the soundtrack falls short.

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