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Twilight: New Moon soundtrack reviewed
Indie rock for the masses?
Joe Bosso, Sun 18 Oct 2009, 2:29 pm BST
Twilight haters - that is, those who aren't tweens or moms obsessed by last year's high school vampire flick and Stephenie Meyer's book series - might have a hard time maintaining their ire with the release of the soundtrack to Twilight: New Moon, the sequel to that first film.
While the maiden CD featured some spot-on, slam-dunk tracks by Muse, Paramore and even an affecting Jeff Buckley-ish performance by film star and heartthrob-of-the-moment Robert Pattinson, it also offered generic, knotheaded rock courtesy of Linkin Park and Collective Soul.
The good news for the new disc is that the trimumvirate of author Meyer, director Chris Weitz and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas have ditched the schlubs and have given us an alt rock sampler with a handful of devastatingly good songs.
The bad news is, some of the tracks are epic fails, in embarrassingly obvious ways.
1. Meet Me On The Equinox - Death Cab For Cutie
The darlings of Bellingham, Washington are on the verge of mainstream success, and they just might make it with this way-too-on-the-nose cut. Over a minor-key, arpeggiated riff and a syncopated snare drum, singer Benjamin Gibbard tries to emote about how "everything ends...everything ends." But he sounds like a bored Geddy Lee, without Lee's sublime quirkiness.
The biggest drawback, however, worse than a chorus that should surge but falls flat, is that the lyrics smack of work-for-hire-itis. There's no teeth, no hunger.
2. Friends - Band Of Skulls
This trio from Southampton, England, have 'buzz band' written all over them, and they grab the brass ring with this deliciously wicked winner. A grimey, greasy guitar and bass riff is offset by a poppy tambourine, the perfect musical bed for Russell Mardsden's left-of-center vocals. Oh - and there's an axe solo that's positively nuclear.
3. Hearing Damage - Thom Yorke
Radiohead's 15 Step served as the end credits song on the first Twilight (the kind of number you sit through even if you don't care who the second unit's catering crew was), and now Thom Yorke has served up an absorbing original.
Over pulsating electronica, Yorke speaks/sings as if he's telecommunicating from another planet. It's less a song as it is a mood piece, but it's one that gently works its way into your soul. By turns soothing and unsettling, this is Yorke indulging his inner Pink Floyd, as he's done in the past, to wondrous effect.
