Pussycat Dolls, 'Doll Domination'

Backstory: Choreographer Robin Antin started the Pussycat Dolls as a Los Angeles-based modern burlesque troupe in 1995, a revue that attracted Hollywood B-list starlets and celebutantes as guest stars. Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo wrote “Don’t Cha” for the former OutKast backup singer Tori Alamaze in 2004. But the song was re-recorded and released that same year as the debut single from Antin’s new musical incarnation of the Pussycat Dolls, fronted by Nicole Scherzinger, and went number one around the world. The group’s first album “PCD” sold more than a million copies Stateside; “Doll Domination” is the attempt to avoid the sophomore slump.

Why you should care: Surely some people were waiting with bated breath for Nicole Scherzinger’s long-delayed solo album, “Her Name is Nicole,” which she asserts will still come out…uh, some day. “Who’s Gonna Love You” and “Happily Never After” were originally intended for “Her Name Is Nicole,” but wound up on this album, instead.

Verdict: Early on, there’s a song about breakups called “I Hate This Part,” which could also easily describe the tedium of listening to this album. It’s a lot of the same pseudo-urban pop pap as the Dolls had last time around. Scherzinger is at her best (as is the album) on the shouty “In Person,” where producers have kindly let her belt without being Auto-Tuned. It might have made for a cuter first single than the childish nyah-nyah sing-songiness of “When I Grow Up.”

X-Factor: The “Deluxe Edition” contains a bonus disc out which each Doll offers a solo tune, but they’re all pretty thin and flat.

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