By the time
The Bob's Burgers Music Album, Vol. 2 appeared, the beloved animated show was enough of an institution that it could lean into its strengths -- inspired silliness and endearingly goofy vocal performances -- proudly. There's plenty of both on this collection, even though the set covers three seasons of music as opposed to the whopping six contained on
The Bob's Burgers Music Album. Once again, the series' music gives each character and cast member time to shine.
H. Jon Benjamin's Bob Belcher loves food and his family as ever on "Nothing Makes Me Happier" and "Regular Fries" (aka
Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind");
Eugene Mirman's Gene remains gleefully uninhibited on "Sexy Little Tiger;"
Dan Mintz's Tina is still an unabashed (if deadpan) romantic on "Briefest of Glances;"
Kristen Schaal's Louise is a ball of vengeful fury on "Not the Forgiving Type;" and
John Roberts' Linda continues to make every moment into a musical on songs like "Happy Birthday We Forgot." Even
Kevin Kline's Mr. Fischoder gets a cameo on "Nothing Makes Me Happy." However, the real standout this time is
Larry Murphy's Teddy, the sad sack with a huge heart who's also the Belchers' favorite customer.
Murphy brings a charming karaoke exuberance to Teddy's version of "Beyond the Sea" and his duets with
Roberts on "The Time of My Life" and "Street Life." The incredibly catchy little songs written by
Loren Bouchard and the rest of the series' creative team, such as "Cat Training" and "Chunky Blast Offs," continue to tie the whole show together with an extra dose of fun. The biggest difference between the music from the show's earlier seasons and the songs on
The Bob's Burgers Music Album, Vol. 2 is that the music is even more integrated into
Bob's Burgers' increasingly rich storytelling. The songs from the episode "Flu-ouise" cleverly hark back to The Wizard of Oz, while the tracks from "The Laser-inth" lovingly parody hard rock and heavy metal better than any animated show since Metalocalypse. Of course, it wouldn't be
Bob's Burgers without some Boyz 4 Now, and the music from "Just One of the Boyz 4 Now 4 Now" sends up boy band pop and gender-swapping teen comedies with equal brilliance. While these soundtracks within a soundtrack are especially impressive, the collection also has plenty of smaller delights like the
Bowie-esque "Watching You from a Distant Place," which shows off a totally different side of
Roberts' vocal chops, and "Hot Pants Rain Dance," a piece of ecstatic disco that's all about letting go and having fun -- in other words, the whole point of
Bob's Burgers. There may be nothing quite as iconic as "Electric Love" or "Bad Things Happen in the Bathroom," but
The Bob's Burgers Music Album, Vol. 2 is still a hugely entertaining showcase for the series' creativity as it approached its tenth season. ~ Heather Phares
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