SOUNDTRACK REVIEWS: Baseketball / Welcome To Woop Woop
- Bob Gajarsky
Gen-X meets the Extreme Games, at least in principle, on the soundtrack to Baseketball (Mojo).
The film - which stars Trey Parker and Matt Stone, to whom Comedy Central is forever indebted for South Park - is about the new sport (baseketball) which is catching on across the nation. The team is bad news, but isn't the bears - rather, they are the beers. And so goes the spirit of the film.
The soundtrack takes the same So-cal feelings and vibes by incorporating many of the West Coast's newest and most exciting bands into a mix of original and previously-released songs.
Reel Big Fish make two appearances here, with "Beer" and the ska-dified, previously-unavailable commercially cover of A-Ha's smash, "Take On Me".
The bands featured here are fairly predictable in their originals, or re-interpretations. If the Dickies' cover of the Banana Splits theme remains etched in your memory, make room for their punk cover of the Isleys' "Nobody But Me" Harry Belafonte's calypso-tinged "Jump In The Line" is covered by Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and the Smashmouth cover of War's "Why Can't We Be Friends" appeared on their 1997 debut album.
New standout tracks from Deep Blue Something ("Tonight" - which gratefully is nothing like the predictable "Breakfast At Tiffany's") and Supersuckers ("Psyched Out") bring a renewed feel of excitement to album listeners. The psychedelic-tinged "Lemon Yellow" from Plastiscene (from their forthcoming album) gives listeners a chance to catch the latest Oasis-influenced wave straight from England.
An ironic inclusion here is Soul Asylum's "I Will Still Be Laughing", from their abysmal Candy From A Stranger . This group might have fit in wonderfully during their Twin-Tone days, but post- And The Horse They Rode In On material shows a band which has lost their fiery edge...to most of the other acts included here.
Just like the movie, the soundtrack to Baseketball may not stand up several years down the road - but for now, it's perfect.
A standout collection. But while Baseketball gives listeners a great reason to plunk their hard-earned money on the counter, two other soundtracks offer mixed bags.
The soundtrack to Welcome To Woop Woop (Universal) includes a large number of classic musical songs remade by today's artists, but doesn't produce the expected results.
Producer extraordinairre Junior Vasquez offers up some remixing on the Peggy Wood reworking of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain and Robin S' version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" while Moodswings and Neneh Cherry, Reel Big Fish and Poe also provide 90s covers of Rodgers and Hammerstein classics. Junior's dance remixes aren't bad, but they won't appear on any of his greatest-hits compilations. And, by the same note, the lackluster execution of the Rodgers/Hammerstein songs can't be excused by claiming the 'songs' themselves were never any good.
Chumbawamba's "Timebomb" doesn't make quite as good use of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth" lyrics as Public Enemy did, and Boy George's title track is on the ragga tip - as much as he can be. Merril Bainbridge's pairing with reggae master Shaggy on the Sonny & Cher song "I Got You Babe" regretfully under-utilizes both of their skills to question why this cover was ever included.
Listening booths are provided for a reason. Utilize one before purchasing this soundtrack.
BASEKETBALL ARTISTS LISTING: Reel Big Fish, Nerf Herder, Deep Blue Something, Supersuckers, Plastiscene, Soul Asylum, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Louchie Lou & Michie One, Ernies, Goldfinger, Dickies, Smashmouth
WOOP WOOP ARTIST LISTING: Cake, Reel Big Fish, Chumbawamba, Poe, Boy George, Merril Bainbridge / Shaggy, Moodswings / Neneh Cherry, Eels, Robin S, Peggy Wood
