Various Artists
Death Proof OST
Warner


By now, it's become obvious that there's a pretty clear formula to Tarantino soundtracks but because the genre switches around each time, no-one's raised any complaints yet. There's the old chestnut re-introduced (Son Of A Preacher Man, Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), or in this case, the glam-boogie of T-Rex's Jeepster); a few dialogue excerpts that are usually not quite as snappy as Tarantino thinks they are; and plenty of obscurities that reflect the tone of the movie.

Probably none of his soundtracks reflects the tone of the movie to which it is attached (or more accurately, the genre to which it is an homage) as well as this one, a muscly brute that wants to appear appears ragged, but actually uses plenty of gloss and sophistication to get there.

Smith adds a jagged edge to the Bacharach-penned classic Baby, It's You, and when she throws her entire soul into the chorus, she makes sure that it retains all of the original's vulnerability but has added punch (in the vocal) and urgency (in the instrumental). Speaking of instrumentals, Phil Spector acolyte Jack Nitzsche's growling yet cool The Last Race sounds exactly like the product of the man with the largest shades in show business. The prowling guitar and menacing drum and bass rhythm section set it up, while the gloss comes from the strings that eventually fill out the arrangement. Constantly dropping out only to return with a vengeance, they help create the tension that Tarantino often looks to build in his own films. Joe Tex's slowed-down AM soul on The Love You Save (May be Your Own) and the edgy street-corner doo-wop of The Coasters' Down In Mexico "where the streets are hotter than chilli sauce," both keep the half greaser punk half kitschy retro mood going perfectly, and there isn't really a misstep on here.

Though the tracks are drawn from across a range of genres, locations and periods, stylistically they fit together pretty well to make one of Tarantino most enjoyable soundtracks.

Alexis Buxton-Collins