Brett CallwoodVarious Artists
Jay & Silent Bob Reboot: Official Motion Picture Soundtrack (Entertainment One)
Like his friend Quentin Tarantino, though in an altogether different way, Kevin Smith has always taken great care when assembling a soundtrack for one of his movies. Go all the way back to Clerks, and the follow-up Mallrats, and you have a collection of ’90s alt-rock gems that speak to exactly where both Smith and his characters were at the time (namely working in a convenience store and hanging around the mall). Even if the songs were barely used in the movie, if they were used at all, the soundtracks worked as a companion piece.
That’s what we have here — a collection of songs that retain some of the alt-rock vibe that the characters of Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) would still hold affection for, as surely do those actors (in Smith’s case, also the director and writer). “Social” by Indiana punks Squirtgun, for example, is from their 1993 debut album. But there also moments that drag it very much into the now, such as the wonderfully self-deprecating “Loser” by L.A. alt-poppers Moby Rich.
Fairly typically of Smith (and Tarantino), the songs are interspersed with snippets of dialogue from the movie, which serves to add context to the song that follows. And there are comedy-gold moments, songs written for the film such as “Mooby’s Song” — the jingle for the fast food franchise in the View Askewniverse.
REO Speedwagon’s “Keep On Loving You” adds some tongue in cheek schmaltz, and Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses,” aka the song that Buffalo Bill tucks and dances to in Silence of the Lambs, reminds us how funny Mewes looks when he apes that scene.
But the two highlights of the album are arguably Hollywood band Pistol Beauty’s glorious pomp-stomp “Good Morning,” and The Tenth’s “I Saw a Ghost.” The latter is the bubblegum pop-punk band that includes Harley Quinn Smith, daughter of Kevin and a co-star in this film. Nepotism, sure. But justifiable.
Overall, this soundtrack works as a compilation album and it works as a companion to the movie. So it works.
(Entertainment One)
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