rating: 9 of 10


The anticipated second film by Clerks director Kevin Smith sports an awesome soundtrack, packed with tracks by recently made popular bands such as Weezer, Bush and Sponge.

Dialogue from the movie Mallrats also provides hilarious additions to the album.

Following in the footsteps of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, the soundtrack includes numerous audio clips from the film, which will be found humorous by listeners, whether or not they have seen the film.

Clips include enlightening wisdom on what men find romantic (proposing on the Universal Studios tour when Jaws jumps up), the impossibility of anyone carrying Superman's baby (with the possible exception of Wonder Woman) and the phenomenon of masturbation (especially in the case of a plane careening to certain death).

Even with all of the dialogue, the album leaves room for 14 music tracks.

Bush opens the album with "Bubbles," providing an upbeat, hard-driving, alternative sound. In the everlasting words of Wayne and Garth, "We're not worthy."

Weezer follows with a ballad quite reminiscent of the "Sweater Song." This track, "Susanne," is an appropriate addition to the soundtrack.

Sponge puts in its two cents' worth: "I'm 17 years old, this can't be happening." "Seventeen" or 23, any college-age listener can empathize.

"Line Up" by Elastica is repetitive, but very cool. The vocals are great, and the instruments go back and forth between one another, creating a different effect.

The title song is performed by Wax, with lyrics that any current or former mall employee can relate to.

The band is loud, but the sound manages to remain clear and undistorted. This is working-world music, great in the car when driving through rush-hour traffic.

One of the only ballads is "Broken," performed by Belly. Unfortunately, the track isn't slow enough to groove to, or fast enough to dance to. The vocals are great, but the band sounds amateur.

The next few tracks don't really deserve to be on the album.

A garage band sound is provided by Girls Against Boys, then All adds a track in which it can't decide if it's an English or an American band. Then a noble, but failing effort by Archers of Loaf follows.

Thrush Hermit has an OK sound, but no danceable groove in "Hated It." The music isn't too bad, however the lyrics leave something to be desired. "Don't step on a crack if you love your mother" typifies the song's advice to the listener.

After this, the album gets back into the swing of things with an addition by The Goops. The band provides an awesome beat, with male back-up singers, a nice twist.

"Social," performed by Squirtgun, is amazing. The drummer has got to be on speed to keep up this frantic pace. The song is fast-paced, with a super-high beat. Despite the racing tempo, the band manages clean breaks.

Sublime's contribution, "Smoke Two Joints," has a kind of 1980s, Jamaican pop sound.

This is one very weird mix, with clips of TV shows, record scratching and human sound effects. These guys are very creative, adding a goofy element to the album.

The last track is more like the rest of the album - alternative Top 40. Silverchair has pretty much lost that new band edge, and it is heading directly to mainstream land with "Stoned."

Once in a while it almost goes somewhere, but then backs off from it. However, the song is clear and understandable, and overall it isn't too bad.

The album is diverse enough to satisfy almost any listener, and even if you're not an alternative fan the dialogue sections make the album worth listening to.

Snootchie Bootchies.

Monday, November 20, 1995