4 out of 5

Label: Williams Street

Producer: Various

As with the movie, ATHFCMFFT loses its own thread about halfway through, the hilarious antics of the opening sketches and rip-roaring feeling of the opening tracks giving way to some dialed in moments that don’t seem to get the joke (Unearth) and then some amusing material that nonetheless feels like padding just to get a full run-time.  That’s not to say I don’t get a smile from “I Like Your Booty (But I’m Not Gay),” but I’m not as wowed as I am when the Soda Dog Refreshment Squad gives way to a hilariously awesome Mastodon track.

Overall, though, this soundtrack really delivers not only the style of the show / film, but enough legit, exclusive tracks that somehow manage to be about the show without just coming across as joke tracks.  And the “skits” make sense – they aren’t shitty hip-hop “skits” that don’t fit into the album except someone thought they’d be a good idea ’cause we’re all fuckin’ hilarious comedians (that’s right, callin’ out a whole genre in one swoop, good work) – whether its Carl or Meatwad or Shake leading us into the next track or berating us, it helps to really drive home the feeling that this is an album, not just a collection of songs, and that it features artists who get the show.  If you saw the movie (and you probably did), you’re expecting that Mastodon lead-in, but it doesn’t make it any less hilarious, and it’s such a tight, concise Mastodon song not about vikings that I consider it total pay-dirt from their catalogue.  Maybe you’re sad that this is the movie version of the theme song and not the show version, but I gotta’ tell ya’ – we all know the theme song is not-so-secretly awesome, and I really dig the “plugged-in” version that they did for the movie.  It was a nice upscaled presentation for fans, and really matched the creepy/crazy artwork that went along with it.  If you don’t have the imagery in your head with which to sync it, just know you’re getting a totally catchy hip-hop rock mash-up that will get stuck in your head, endlessly, regardless of how nonsensical the lyrics are outside the context of the show.

Early Man delivers a rockin’ track that probably has the best lyrics on the album – so many obvious jokes that they just slightly diverge from to make it as much fun to listen to what they’re saying as it is to simply rock out to it.  Then… eh.  It gets a little dry.  Maybe I’m missing something in “Unearth” ‘s ‘exclusionary’ track, but it doesn’t sound like it belongs to Aqua Teen, beyond ‘The Chosen’ perhaps being a movie reference, but if so, it’s so general it doesn’t matter.  It stretches it’s monotone scream and repeated lyrics out for a minute too long, and then, sure, Andrew W.K. seems like he belong in the Aqua Teen world, and maybe Party Party Party appeared in the flick (though I don’t recall hearing it…), but for all of the original material on this album, including A.W.K.’s big hit (which, admittedly, I’m not a fan of) feels like odd filler.  Nine Pound Hammer arrive to kick some shit up again, thankfully, but then Brass Castle delivers an interesting track that sorta slows down the vibe.  It’s not a bad song by any means, but this is where we feel like we’re really losing the thread because our connection to the show is slipping…  Killer Mike gives us a good and heavy dirty-southish rap, but at 6+ minutes it makes its point at the expense of our attention span.  Thank god for MC Chris’ awesome “I Want Candy.”  Apparently the Hold Steady track that follows is a rare one, but regardless, it again feels ill-matched for the overall vibe of the album.

STILL – soundtracks are rarely this well realized, and, as mentioned, the way things start to lose steam does match the flow of the film, but… I’m not believing that that’s a meta thing by any means.  “Sure, I’ll be on the lame half of the album!”  Totally worth it, and totally feels like it was fun for the crew to get these bands / artists involved.