By: David Schultz

High School Reunion clearly has ambitions. Targeting the mid-30's demographic that will have the fondest memories for the syrupy John Hughes movies of the 80s, this compilation attempts to introduce them to new artists playing songs that may possess some grudgingly sentimental value. Some of these songs are inextricably intertwined with the scenes they accompanied. The thought of Jennifer Jason Leigh losing her virginity in a baseball dugout should bring Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby" to mind. When Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" plays, who doesn't imagine Lloyd Dobler, boom box high overhead? Heterosexual males surely smile with salacious delight upon hearing the opening strains of The Cars' "Moving In Stereo." Playing on the goodwill already established by the songs and their strong connection to some well-known films, High School Reunion deftly avoids becoming a kitschy collection and generally succeeds. The uninspired tracks simply reproduce the original while the exceptional covers creatively interpret and joyously reinvent some fairly evocative 80s tunes.

On this collection, the breakout songs come from those artists who used the original song as a framework, adapting the song to suit their style. AM replaces Jim Kerr's suave restrained yearning from The Breakfast Club anthem "Don’t You Forget About Me" with an intense growl, turning the song from a plea of remembrance into a near hysterical order. Lori McKenna goes in the opposite direction, scaling back the lush melodies from "In Your Eyes" creating a smoky, smoldering torch song out of the Gabriel classic. The Bastards of Melody take the same approach with The Replacements' "Within Your Reach," offering a more sedate, contemplative version of the song.

High School Reunion doesn't play everything completely straight. The Bennies' wild version of "Weird Science" and The Dresden Dolls' piano and drums working of "Pretty In Pink" provide a chuckle. Although they could have opted to vamp up The Vapors' wanking classic "Turning Japanese," even further, The Blank Pages instead replaced the slick 80s sound with rousing guitars, creating a fun indie-sounding anthem. The Caulfield Sisters remove Morrissey's whine from "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" and replace it with an acoustic guitar and banjo. In the hands of The Wading Girl, "Danke Schoen" loses the cute Ferris Bueller charm, becoming a boisterous, rollicking rave-up.

While far from unlistenable, Blake Babies' John Strohm's "Somebody’s Baby" and Matthew Sweet's cover of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' "American Girl" fail to offer anything new. Similarly, the Dipsomaniacs' version of the Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away" pales in comparison to the Goo Goo Dolls' 1991 cover.

Fans with fond memories for the soundtracks of teen classics like Pretty In Pink, Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Sixteen Candles won't be disappointed by High School Reunion. While basking in the nostalgia of their youth, listeners can also open their ears to some fresh new talent that might otherwise have escaped their attention. But then again, this convergence of emerging artists, iconographic music and benchmark film might have another explanation. As ubiquitous 80s actor Tracey Walter explained to 80s icon Emilio Estevez in Repo Man (who’s title track is covered here by Frank Black), perhaps "[t]here's this lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything . . . show you what I mean: suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone will say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate of shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness." Maybe this album has always been in our collective subconscious. Then again, maybe this review just needed to be concluded with a cool quote.