“My Way Or The Highway”

Tuscadero

Tuscadero’s “My Way Or The Highway” is the group’s second attempt at pop music success.

But it appears success is not going to happen once again.

Kicking the album off on the wrong foot is “Queen For A Day.” The song sounds a lot like the Go-Go’s and gets very annoying at times.

Following is the expected hit “Paper Dolls.” It delivers well with its peppy, hip-hop beat in the beginning, followed by a lazy trumpet floating around it. The song takes a stand against the world of models and the magazines that support them.

Many of the songs that follow are easily left behind, leaving no impact on the album whatsoever. “Not My Johnny” is one of the annoying ones with the incessant amount of “not my Johnny’s” that can be found looming within it.

Perhaps the only songs worth any entertainment value may be “Tiny Shiny Boyfriend” and “Dr. Doom.”

The first song is about a nude figure of a man on a mudflap that the lead singer, Margaret McCartney, found at a truckstop.

It has very clever lyrics; however, the singing doesn’t blend well with the music, which is too bad. The band’s musicality is sharply definitive; it just needs to lose the two annoying female singers.

“Dr. Doom” is, for the most part, lame, but it really picks up near the end when it begins to sound like a James Bond movie action theme.

Even “Tickled Pink” isn’t that bad of a song. It’s about a woman trying to lure a man home from the bar.

The lyrics “You shake me in my shoes, especially in your underoos. Of course it might just be the booze, but what have I got to lose,” are the only thing that make the song worth listening to.

“Liquid Center” has a really awesome rhythm, but the secondhand singing by McCartney and co-singer Melissa Farris are crappy take-offs of Veruca Salt.

Warning: Do not listen to Tuscadero’s “My Way Or The Highway” alone. It may cause severe depression or even suicidal tendencies that should be monitored closely.

1 1/2 stars out of five

— Kevin Hosbond