Rolling Stone : Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof : Review

The sixties and seventies rarities that Tarantino chose for his half of the B-movie homage Grindhouse bristle with analog noise, overdriven vocals and crusty fuzz guitars -- they're the musical equivalent of the rumbling old muscle cars his film fetishizes. The tracks range from a ramshackle-funky, Big Brother and the Holding Company-like cover of "Baby It's You" (from forgotten blues rockers Smith) to "Hold Tight," a lost 1966 classic by the British group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich that sounds like a frat rock version of the Who's "Armenia City in the Sky." Equally hot are Pacific Gas and Electric's roadhouse take on "Staggolee," the doomy surf rock of Eddie Baram's "Riot in Thunder Alley" and Joe Tex's majestic soul ballad "The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)." It all captures the spooky, exhilarating vibe of speeding on an empty highway after midnight -- deadly crash possibly included.

BRIAN HIATT

(Posted: Apr 17, 2007)