Various Artists

Sprout

The soundtrack from the surf movie by Thomas Campbell

(Brushfire / Record Collection)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

The soundtrack for Thomas Campbell’s Sprout is beachier and a little less obvious than a compilation you might find at Starbucks, but falls along the same general lines:  well-chosen and safely urbane.  It has something for everyone—or maybe everything for everyone; it’s hard to imagine finding any of these tunes intolerable.

The big names on the album are The Shins and Jack Johnson, the latter doing his business as part of the lively Sprout House Band (along with Tommy Guerrero, Money Mark and Adam Topol).  The Shins get some more soundtrack mileage out of their likeable, reliably sprightly “When I Goose Step,” which has a vocal melody reminiscent of Belle & Sebastian.  The Sea and Cake’s Sam Prekop sets the tone on album opener “Practice Twice,” a breathy, somnolent summer stroll.  Hope Sandoval, a soundtrack supervisor’s dream come true, lends an overlooked older gem (“On The Low”) and Superwolf (Bonnie Prince Billy and Matt Sweeney) contribute the original track “Demon Lover,” probably the least “chill” track on the disc, but a vital one nonetheless.

The album’s engine, though, is the instrumental.  Most of the songs are available elsewhere, like Oliver Nelson’s excellent jazz piece “Stolen Moments” and Guerrero’s driving “By Fist and Fury,” but the originals make it worth seeking out the compilation to have all of the songs collected on one handy platter; there is a well-crafted flow to the album that makes it something perfect for throwing on during almost any relaxed circumstance or gathering—the sort of thing that will almost certainly cause a friend to perk up, turn and say, “Hey, what’s this?”