Anything that opens with White Rabbits has to be a good thing. So while I have never watched an episode of Friday Night Lights, I will stand here—I’m standing at my Starbucks table as I type this!—and tell you to go get yourself a copy of the Friday Night Lights Vol. 2 original television soundtrack.
Because of its variety and indie vibe, this soundtrack has the potential to be like Pretty in Pink soundtrack, where the music (more than the movie?) helped shape a generation’s taste in alternative music. While Pretty in Pink trended towards English Rock, Friday Night Lights Vol. 2 leans toward Country-influenced Rock (White Rabbits being an exception).
Friday Night Lights begins with the piano-driven, percussive pulse of White Rabbits’ “Percussion Gun” followed by Middle America introspection songs by the Heartless Bastards and A.A. Bondy. Bondy’s “Killed Myself When I Was Young” haunts that dark Middle American night like a wild tempest of a thunderstorm seen off in the distance. With a bit of twang-and-swagger, Augustana offers up “Fire” while Jakob Dylan sends out “Something Good This Way Comes.” Ex-X AltCountry punker John Doe cranks out an acoustic tune (“The Meanest Man in the World”) to accompany you while you walk down the train tracks.
In case you thought we wouldn’t get to the charged up locker room scene or the cars cruising the street at night, Band of Skulls steps up to the line with “I Know What I Am.”
Finally, spiritually you wake up on Sunday morning after the game and its aftermath and Sufjan Stevens calls you to worship with his passionate banjo rendition of “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing.”
Friday Night Lights Vol. 2
Arrival Records
Scion Music Group
