All entries for Tuesday 01 May 2007

Actually found on film

Writing about web page http://www.myspace.com/spiderman

It’s amazing what you find on soundtracks.

Look a bit closely at the Spiderman 3 soundtrack past the obvious Snow Patrol lead single and The Killers leftovers (and the trash from Jet) and you find two new efforts from The Walkmen, and Rogue Wave. On a CD boasting so many original songs (and a few good ‘uns as well), it just seems weird to see ‘Spiderman 3’ on the front of it.

The Walkmen track, Red River, doesn’t hold any new ground, but it has them finding their footing again after some of the relative missteps in last (proper) album A Hundred Miles Off. It mixes the relaxing groove of Louisiana with the explosions of Danny’s At The Wedding without veering off to the unlistenable territory of All Hands and the Cook. I was really at odds with the last record, skipping a fair few of the tracks, like I’m wont to do with Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me…, as if they’ve regressed back to going for some avant-garde style over substance (does anybody play Roll Down The Line?). Some of the tracks have grown on me, but even lead singer, Hamilton has admitted to being a bit lax with song selection in a recent interview. Hopefully it points signs to decent new album.

The Rogue Wave song, Sight Lines, is much more pleasant. Zach Rogue might resemble James Mercer with a stranger accent (with the same amount of reverb, naturally), but he restrains the calculation of his words and gives the song a bit more breathing space than a Shins song generally allows. The instrumentation is looser, as the bright chorus that breaks out between the verses lets drums, slide guitar and piano all tumble over each other. Unfortunately it doesn’t build much further, but the journey is a better experience. If you haven’t picked up Descended Like Vultures, you should.

Then again, these bands would never give their best tracks away to a soundtrack, regardless of the film. Right?

The Walkmen – Red River
Rogue Wave – Sight Lines
[Listen to and buy the whole album here]

: 01 May 2007 09:14 |  Tags: Audio Film Music Rogue Wave Soundtrack Spiderman 3 The Walkmen Yeah Yeah Yeahs |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem