Music Monday

Happy March everyone! Now that February is over, things should be getting better. Something about February always seems terrible. It's cold, it's short, there's never enough time to get things done. Well, that last one might spill into March as well since it's the end of the quarter for me so I'm working furiously on my final article for journalism (leaving myself little post-its that yell at me to call people and do interviews) and preparing for my finals. But in less than three weeks I will be back at home for spring break and then flying off to Texas for a road-trip to the beach with my friends. That's what's keeping me going.
Anyhow, back to the real purpose of this post:
My favorite soundtracks, part III: Battle of the (Fictional) Bands
Josie and the Pussycats and two honorable mentions: That Thing You Do! and The Lizzie McGuire Movie
I read Archie comics as a little one, so the Josie and the Pussycats movie was right up my alley. It seems like just another teen movie, but it's really a pretty clever satire on how media saturated teen culture is which is summed up best in an AV Club article. And the music's totally awesome. The lead vocals are Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo (whom you might remember from the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack) and the songs have that wonderful girl group with an edge sound. As a bonus, Josie and the Pussycats aren't the only faux band in the mix. There's also a hilarious boy band called DuJour.
Highlights:
Three Small Words

Pretend to Be Nice

Backdoor Lover

That Thing You Do!
I love That Thing You Do! It's a wonderful movie about a one-hit band called The Wonders (One-Hit Wonders...get it) set in the 1960s. The movie has some great catchy pop music and it's an honorable mention simply because I do not own the soundtrack (though my sister does).
highlights:
That Thing You Do

as a bonus, you get *NSYNC (one of my childhood faves) singing it too

Dance With Me Tonight

The Lizzie McGuire Movie
This gets an honorable mention because I don't think the whole soundtrack deserves to be on this list. But there are a couple of songs that I'll make an exception for. The Lizzie Mcguire movie features one of the more ridiculous fictional music groups, namely Paolo and Isabella. I say ridiculous mostly because they're supposed to be Italian but are played by a guy from New Jersey and Hilary Duff. But there's some excellent bubblegum pop to be had, so I can't deny it a space.
Highlights:
What Dreams are Made of