Album Review

Various – 500 Days Of Summer

• 21st Sep 2009

In the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a love-struck, indie lad from New Jersey with a profound love for vintage, British pop so it’s no surprise that The Smiths are one of the first bands you’re introduced to both in the film and on the soundtrack. The album is also infused with other worldly delights from artists like quirky Russian songstress Regina Spektor, pint sized Canadian Feist and shrieking Aussies, Wolfmother.

As the album cover states, “These are not love songs, they’re songs about love” so you’ll be glad to know there’s no whiney ballads that assault your ears with the words ‘love’ and ‘baby’ more times than you care to remember. Instead the soundtrack is a surprisingly upbeat, eclectic compilation of tracks that makes for some very easy listening. Even the unashamedly smile inducing appearance of You Make My Dreams by golden oldies Hall & Oates isn’t out of place sandwiched between UK favourites Doves’ There Goes the Fear and summer hit Sweet Disposition from Aussie newcomers The Temper Trap. It’s nice to see so many older tracks being raked out from dusty back catalogues and positioned alongside more current tracks like the spine-tingling Us by Regina Spektor and She’s Got You High from recently disbanded Mumm-ra.

Overall the soundtrack is very much like the film, romantically understated and effectively manages to unify the vintage and the contemporary.