Various Artists - Death Proof OST

Quentin Tarantino may be a one trick pony, but the guy obviously knows what he likes and likes what he does. You definitely know what you’re getting into when you watch one of his films, and this goes for his soundtracks too: no matter how eclectic the collection of songs (which are usually just on the brink of oblivion)--- spaghetti western, surf, soul, blues or rock---- they always conjure a gritty, not-quite defined era of big American cars, strippers and honky tonks. Since Death Proof is just more of the same of his previous work----both cinematically and aurally----Death Proof won’t have the same impact as the wildly successful soundtrack to Tarantino’s 1994 film, Pulp Fiction, which became nearly ubiquitous in record collections, but that doesn’t make the Death Proof any less engaging. Starting appropriately with the spaghetti/surf of “The Last Race”, by Jack Nitzche,
a Phil Spector disciple famous for his work on Ike and Tina’s “River Deep, Mountain High”; his contributions of early Rolling Stones’ hits; and, later, Hollywood film scores. Other highlights include T. Rex’s “Jeepster”; a much grittier version of the Shirelles’ “Baby It’s You”, as covered in 1969 by a band called Smith; a nearly obligatory Ennio Morricone track; and modern Francophile April March’s cover of France Gall’s rendition of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Chick Habit”. Of course, Mr. Tarantino always inserts snippets of dialogue in his soundtracks which are only cute the first three times you re-hear them, and there’s some dogs included, like “Down in Mexico”, by the always painfully hammy doo-wop group, The Coasters; or the instantly skip-able “Sally and Jack”, but overall Death Proof the soundtrack is more of the same from Mr. Tarantino, and that’s a good thing. [www.grindhousemovie.net]