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The new Spider-Man soundtrack seems to have put away mainstream radio chasing in favor of songs that have a more indie flavor. Well, they’ve still got that one sentimental opening track that will probably end up being synonymous with the summer movie and the romance between lead characters Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, but many other tracks seem somewhat out of place for this series of soundtracks. Granted, the first soundtrack had The Hives and The Strokes, and the second album had… Jet, but all the remaining spaces were filled mostly with forgettable no-name mainstream rock, be it the gaudy guttural groans of Nickelback or the histrionic whining of Dashboard Confessional.

This Spider-Man soundtrack differs from the first two soundtracks in that it not only has an indie song here and there on the album just to make the compilations more bearable, this album actually gets tracks from notable indie bands and puts them all up front. Snow Patrol, The Killers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfmother, The Walkmen, The Flaming Lips and… Jet, all contributed new or previously unreleased tracks to the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack. Maybe a record executive decided to make a soundtrack that would best fit the movie seeing as though it’s going to do well anyway because it has the Spider-Man logo stamped across it. Maybe indie music is gaining enough popularity to cross over into the mainstream and this is just a helping hand for the “on the radio” boost? That’s probably a little idealistic, but either way, this album has some surprisingly good tracks from notable indie artists.

There’s of course the down-tempo Snow Patrol ballad “Signal Fire” (1) that probably will be crammed into our temporal lobes all summer long, which is also the only blatant bid for radio air play. After that, it gets pretty good. The Killers contribute “Move Away” (2), which sounds like The Cure jamming with a strange preacher cowboy that Brandon Flowers seems to have become. It’s actually one of the hardest rocking songs they’ve done. Ever. I can see how the sound of it would fit perfectly to a Spider-Man movie, it has that “depth” defying guitar swing that Spider-Man seems to like so much. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs contribute a slower but no less intense continuation of guitar rock in “Sealings” (3) again, another seemingly perfect fit into the spider-sound-scape.

After that, the styles start to break up a little, starting out with the rumbling drums and Jangly Guitars of the Walkmen on “Red River” which is actually the next single lined up after Snow Patrol. Also, there’s the Flaming Lips’ addition to the soundtrack “The Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man how to be in Love” (7) which is a pleasant venture into their trademark sonic envelope specially tailored for Spidey. There are several other notable tracks on here; “Portrait of a Summer thief” (13) has the kind of emotional clout that could get them on the radio. The final note of interest is that former Phantom Planet drummer Jason Schwartzman contributes an almost acoustic song with the aid of actress Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson) on backing vocals. Some surprising contributions here, to be certain. If the soundtrack is an indicator for the quality of the movie, I think we’re in for a treat.

Buy the “Spider-Man 3 Soundtrack”
(You can listen to the entire album here)

Spider-Man 3 Myspace

MP3 – Move Away – The Killers

MP3 – Red River – The Walkmen

MP3 – Summer Day – Coconut Records

MP3 – Sounds Under Radio – Portrait of a Summer Thief

Signal Fire Music Video