Kacey Simon is the lead of her own school clique/band, The Perfs. She’s the typical high school mean girl, but during a mishap in the mall involving a fruit stand, she finds out that she needs braces. AND glasses. The Perfs ditch her right away due to her nerdy visage, and Kacey finds herself alone and stuck with some of the nerdiest kids in school and their band. Now Kacey must find herself with the help of her new friends and her music.
With ratings hemorrhaging and the Disney Channel claiming more and more victories, Nickelodeon is positioning How to Rock as their next big series. As a result, the show is pretty safe and familiar in terms of the content and tropes (Likable lead, quirky friends, clear villains and the Be Yourself theme), but it’s still a enjoyable romp. Kacey (Cymphonique Miller) is the quintessential Queen Bee of her posse and the whole school; she’s pretty, popular and outwardly cruel to anyone not a Perf. She’s also looking forward to winning the school’s upcoming talent show. After her fall from grace when her geeky enhancements are exposed, her fellow Perfs Molly and Grace (played by Samantha Boscarino and Halston Sage respectively) kick her out of the clique, and take advantage of the open Alpha Girl spot.
Luckily, Kacey finds solace with handsome Zander (Max Schneider ), and he introduces her to the rest of his own band Gravity 4. There’s the dorky duo of Nelson (Noah Crawford) and Kevin (Chris O’Neal). And there’s also no-nonsense Stevie (Lulu Antariksa ), the only other girl in the band who Kacey almost instantly clashes with. Kacey ends up proving herself to the band with her beautiful singing voice, which puts the other Perfs on guard. They instantly grovel at Kacey’s feet once more, and Kacey has a big decision to make on whether she should be perfect or herself. I’ll give you three guesses on what Kacey picks.
While the show is pretty much Kid Sitcom 101, it’s still a fun watch. Cymphonique is a great lead, and an awesome singer and the other main cast members play their parts well. There are some legitimately funny parts in the pilot and the end of the episode hints at a pretty intriguing rivalry. The message, while done-to-death, is an important one of the target demo to embrace themselves and how they rock.
How to Rock premieres Saturday, February 4th at 8:30pm ET on Nickelodeon.