Published on Jun 18, 1999
I have got to learn to stop reviewing soundtracks until I’ve
seen their corresponding movies. I always seem to think that I’ll
be able to get some idea of how the plot of the movie is
progressing by following the flow of the music. But,
no
, I always end up getting overwhelmed by the tunes, and give
up trying to guess at the plot. (So why don’t I go to the films?
It’s expensive to constantly see movies and to hire a babysitter
when both sets of grandparents are busy.)
So, in the case of the soundtrack to
Clubland, I’m again left to my own defenses, and have to
approach this as a music CD, not necessarily as a soundtrack. And,
once the smoke clears, it proves to be an entertaining, quirky
little disc featuring many artists you might not have heard before.
Then again, that’s half the fun of this disc.
The star of the movie, Jimmy Tuckett, performs three of the 17
listed (and one hidden) tracks on this disc. Of them, the highlight
is the track “Not Me,” where Tuckett shows his talents as a
musician. Never mind the fact that all the songs he sings were at
least co-written by Glen Ballard, who is starting to turn into
another entertainment svengali (the soundtrack is on his subsidiary
of Capitol, and he wrote and co-produced the movie). I’m not
suggesting the other two tracks, “Away From Me” and “Gemini”, are
bad, just that “Not Me” sticks with me the longest of the
three.
There are many songs on
Clubland that I would call “guilty pleasures”; they’re the
kind of songs that you’ll crank up in the apartment when no one
else is around. Supple’s deadpan rendition of The Bee Gees’s
“Stayin” Alive” is one such track; it’s so sinful that I blush each
time I cue that one up in the headphones. Likewise, tracks such as
Frisbie’s “Here We Go” and Vitreous Humor’s “Why Are You So Mean To
Me?” are cuts that will have you happily bopping along to the
tunes. Citizen Cope’s “200,000 (In Counterfeit Fifty Dollar Bills)”
also falls under this category, but I thought the track needed a
little more musical and lyrical development.
Other artists like Flood (“Watch Her Walk Out”), Zebrahead
(“Check”) and Radford (“Closer To Myself”) also impress, making the
listener wonder how long it will be before these artsts start
getting significant media attention. Surprisingly, the one song
that is being pushed on this disc, John Oszajca’a “Bi-Sexual
Chick,” isn’t really that much to write home about, and its title
sounds more threatening than the song actually is.
The difficulty with a soundtrack like
Clubland is that the movie is one many people might not be
familiar with. Chances are, if you haven’t seen the movie, you will
be less willing to part with $17 for the soundtrack. This one,
however, is a little different. You might want to consider it a
collection of the artists who you’re going to be hearing a lot more
from in the future. Who knows? Once you’ve listened to the
soundtrack, you may try to search out a theatre playing this
film.