Stephen Berthomieux (The Big Easy):

Josie and the Pussycats is the soundtrack from the live-action adaptation of the Archie classic characters, Josie & the Pussycats. Admittingly, I have not actually seen the movie so we’ll be looking purely at the musical content without any of the context of the film. While I do not know how my viewpoint on the music would change after having seen the movie, I can say that what we have here is a very solid pop rock/punk album with some premium slappers in there.

Filled with catchy hooks and ear worm melodies, Kay Hanley delivers perfectly what the voice of Josie should sound like. Setting the tone from the start with ‘3 Small Words’, the fast punky opener that conveys the fun attitude that carries through the rest of the record. Although the album features plenty of talent, some low moments occur when it’s clear the writers would have to force a ballad or produce a very typical pop rock number. It leaves a slight feeling of an industry manufactured product only to achieve high billboard standings. Aside from this, the album does offer some diversity by delivering two straight up dancey, R&B boyband-ish tunes that break things up a bit with “DuJour Around the World” and “Backdoor Lover”.

It is clear though that the best moments are when the writers are able to fully lean into their early 90’s punk/rock influences with songs such as “Pretend to be Nice” and “Shapeshifter” Regardless, this is a catchy fun record that has a little bit of everything for fans of pop music, not mention a sick rendition of the original Josie and the Pussycats song from the 70’s to top it off! Maybe I should go watch this freakin movie now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯