Describing itself as “the evil twin to the ecstatically decadent Boogie Nights soundtrack”, the merits of this collection dwarf even Val Kilmer’s (it says here) 13-inch penis. Okay, so he was playing porn legend John Holmes. But we don’t even want to think about the method acting. Instead, let’s explain why this soundtrack is so excellent. It’s very simple: most of the songs they’ve chosen are classics. As opposed to the tired drek clueless movie producers compiling soundtracks usually think are classics (Dido, The Troggs). Wonderland is a rarity, and gets it absolutely right.
Bookended by lewd dialogue from Kilmer and cronies, and a demented version of Neil Diamond’s “Love On The Rocks” by Korn’s Jonathan Davies (which intones, “Pour me a drink, bitch”), are: T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy”, The Stooges’ “Search And Destroy”, Roxy’s. “In Every Dream Home A Heartache”, Patti Smith’s “Gloria” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind”. Having fun yet? Okay, throw in Bob Dylan’s “Quinn The Eskimo”, Bad Company’s “Shooting Star” (c’mon, you love it) and The Cars’ “Good Times Roll” (c’mon, you…etc). Most of these are probably among your desert island discs. Duran Duran’s “Girls On Film” is probably your desert island video. And Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” is ubiquitous whether we like it or not. Terry Reid, Ted Nugent and Billy Joel make up the numbers. But we’ll ignore them because they spoil our flow. Wonderland leaps louchely from the “world’s forgotten boy” to “friends say it’s fine, friends say it’s good”. From “G-L-O-R-I-A” to “I blew up your body, but you blew my mind”. Anybody not knowing which tracks these lines are from has no business sticking around. We’ll manage without you. By accident or design, an exhilarating set which claims it captures “sleaze, paranoia, violence, sex and drugs”, and claims well.