The first chance to hear new material from Mike Skinner since the dissolution of
the Streets, the official soundtrack to the hit U.K. comedy
The Inbetweeners Movie features ten original compositions from the Birmingham street poet alongside several extremely brief snippets of dialogue, and a whole host of other familiar hits which appear throughout the film. Capturing the hedonistic spirit of the plot, which sees the group of misfits embark on a typical lad's holiday to Malia, Skinner's contributions are focused firmly on the dancefloor, taking in pulsing
Justice-esque electro ("No Problemo"), soulful Italo house ("We Are Go"), and funky, vocodered disco ("Moanatronic 5000"), alongside the squelchy techno ska of "Clunge in a Barrel" (named after one of the show's most famous slang terms), the blissful, piano-led instrumental "Waving Not Drowning," and the ambient electro-clash of "Do It." Allowing his production skills to do the talking, Skinner opts to leave his trademark, laconic stream-of-consciousness vocals out of these proceedings, suggesting that the direction of any future solo material is unlikely to be hinted at here, but it's a strong first score which shows that despite his recent philosophical output, he still knows how to "have it large." Elsewhere, only the scuzzy garage rock of
the Vines' "Gimme Love," the jangly Merseybeat of
Miles Kane's "Quicksand," and
Deer Tick's lo-fi ballad "Twenty Miles," join
Morning Runner's theme tune, "Gave Up in Flames," on the list of ramshackle guitar-band tunes that usually dominate the TV series. Instead, the album is more concerned with the kind of floor-fillers that the character of Neil is famous for robotically dancing along to, from the anthemic vocal house of
Axwell's "Nothing But Love," to the novelty Euro-pop of
Yolanda Be Cool's "We No Speak Americano," to beefed-up remixes of hits by
KeSha ("Blow"),
Calvin Harris ("Feel So Close"), and
Everything Everything ("My KZ, UR BF"). The four indie pop inclusions slightly interrupt the flow of the album, but overall,
The Inbetweeners Movie OST is likely to be enjoyed by most package holiday clubbers, whether they're fans of near-the-knuckle schoolboy humor or not. ~ Jon O'Brien