Defend its Existence

MUSIC

By Caralyn Green

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Oct. 24, 2007

Cheetah Girls
TCG (Hollywood)

A crisp Sunday afternoon, I cha-cha from the liquor store to the organic market, the coffee hole to the record shop, my ears plugged with iPod buds feeding my syncopated stride with music that makes me step lively and smile at strangers.

What is it that makes my sashay so buoyant from the Schuylkill to the Delaware? Beirut's sophomore triumph? That'd be more of a mosey, and time is money, folks. It's gotta be bouncy, deliberately superficial and dripping with manufactured cheese. It's gotta be the Cheetah Girls (and not only because my editor handed me the album and said, "Defend").

The Cheetah Girls finally released their first proper non-soundtrack album TCG, and it's every bit as slick, brainless and catchy as hinted at by their two Disney original movies, their Cheetah-licious Christmas album, their live CD and that fierce jive by Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan, who's the contestant to beat on this season's Dancing With the Stars.

Let's be clear: The Cheetah Girls are a girl group created by Disney for their film franchise starring Raven-Symon�. After they proved profitable, Disney made them into a real live touring and recording act--minus Raven, who's gone all Beyonc�, leaving the other three cats without a leader. Using their real names rather than their on-screen personae, TCG sounds something like Play, Blaque or 3LW, the former outfit of current Cheetahs Kiely Williams and Adrienne Bailon. The album's written and produced by a long and varied list of "names," including 'N Syncer J.C. Chasez, J.R. Rotem (Britney's boy-toy for all of a minute), Matthew Gerrard (High School Musical, JoJo and Eden's Crush) and of course the Cheetah Girls themselves.

Beyond Billboard domination, the Cheetahs are planning a third flick--a Bollywood adventure. And of course that Raven diva has opted out. Yet the Cheetah Girls persist. They really are an inspiration to us all.