Soundtrack albums eh? Next thing you know they'll be collaborating with Brian Eno and being "seen" with Bono. The soundtrack album marks a musician's transition from cool but only partially successful to serious and respected. It also often marks a musician's transition from exciting and vital to tedious and bereft of songs.

As their first full foray into the world of film scores their inexperience in the field shows through. Where their recent recorded output has been almost breathtaking in its variety, there they trudge through every film score cliche in the book. Soppy violin bit? Check. Upbeat hillbilly guitar bit? Check. Mid-tempo vaguely whimsical theme song? Check. Bongos? Check. Steel drums? Check. Check, check check.

Also of concern is that where in the past (most notably on 2001 album "Team Rock") they have ripped off songs as diverse as Green Day's "Basket Case" and "Auld Lang Syne" with near admirable brazenness and pluck, here the theme song "Highway" finds them reduced to ripping off the melody of their own "Suichu Motor" (a much better song from their 2002 masterpiece "The World Is Mine").

Quruli are good musicians with a still broadening musical palette and this should by no means be mistaken for a "new Quruli album". Also, while sparse on originality it's cheap, short and listenable enough. Like all soundtrack albums its main problem lies in the way that shorn of its context in the film the music hangs limp and devoid of meaning.

Our main worry however, is that this represents the band cashing in their pop chips in favour of the meaningless ego-rub of respectability. Where they should be making wilder and more wonderful pop songs, getting into everyone's faces and selling bucketloads of records to fresh unsuspecting teens, ripe for corruption, continuing along this dangerous track marks an unconditional surrender to the forces of bland factory-ready designer-pop and retreat into a safe, insulated, ready-made market pigeon-hole.

The real album's coming soon, it could be brilliant, don't accept anything less. -Ian Martin, Nov.30.03

Joze To Tora To Sakanatachi