The Powerpuff Girls: Heroes and Villains [SOUNDTRACK]

The artists involved were all hand-picked by Craig McCracken, creator of the series, who also contributes liner notes. It's not a question of which tracks on the CD are good and which aren't...but rather which are good and which are awesome. Stand-out tracks for me would have to be the hi-tech wonders of "The Fight" by Cornelius (listen LOUD with a good pair of headphones and prepare to be blown away) and the other Bis track, "Fight The Power" - featuring a huge Chemical-Brothers-style meltdown in the middle. And who could resist lyrics like "You've got the brainpower of a sunflower"?

Aside from the fact that the ORIGINAL "Love Makes The World Go Round" (sung by the Powerpuff Girls) really should have been included, this WEA/Rhino release is a perfect CD, full of variety and talent, with a fun storyline to match. What more needs to be said?

Interspersed between the songs is a bit by bit story of the Powerpuff Girls against Mojo Jojo.

At least Mojo gets a song rooting him on. That is the upbeat "Go Monkey Go" by Devo. Q: Are they not human, A: No they are Mojo.

"Signal In The Sky" by The Apples In Stereo is a nice dose of Beatles-ish pop-alternative and one of the highlights of this collection. Anyone see the music video for this?

Optiganally Yours' "Walk & Chew Gum" is a pleasing oddity of 1930's/1940's lo-fi jazz and describes the Mayor as someone who can't, well, do the actions of title track at the same time. The lyrics here has the mayor down to a tee: "Thank goodness for the Powerpuffs/Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup make it easy to do my job." That is a massive understatement right there.

With "All right, Mo-Jerk! How'd you like a taste of Buttercup?" introduced by the toughest Powerpuff, comes the best song on Heroes On Villains, Shonen Knife's "Buttercup (I'm A Super Girl)," which is the punkest song I've heard the Yamano sisters do. The adrenaline fury of the drums and guitar reflect Buttercup's reputation as the toughest fighter perfectly. I can picture Buttercup jamming to this song over and over.

Unfortunately, Blossom and Bubbles' songs aren't as impressive as their sibling's. Komeda's alt-techno hybrid doesn't do tribute to the Powerpuff commander. Lyrically, yes. Musically no. Ditto for Dressy Bessy's song for Bubbles. The girls deserved better songs.

Bis's "Fight The Power" is sung from Mojo's perspective, and mainly features the male vocalist, and is better than the two tunes preceding it. Love that chorus: "I've got the brain/I'm insane/(You won't stop the power)."

Sugarplastic's "Don't Look Down" has a pleasing, goofy, ambling ambience, and is the Professor's song. Cornelius's instrumental techno number "The Fight" combines techno beats with samples of dialogue and narration. Bill Doss's skipping alt-McCartney-ish "Friends Win" rounds things off, with references to a few of the show's villains before yielding to Bis's closing theme.

There is a hidden track continuing immediately after. That is the song the girls sing in "Mime For A Change" to wake up Townsville from the black-and-white nightmare instigated by Mr. Mime with the "Love makes the world go 'round" chorus. However, it is not done by the girls. Pity--otherwise it would have been perfect. Despite a briefly sagging midsection, Heroes And Villains is a worthy collection giving the girls' their due.

By the way, the Japanese writing along the cover sleeve reads from top to bottom: amaimono, spaiceenamono, iimono. Literal translation: sweet things, spicy things, and good things. Or in English, sugar, spice, and everything nice.