Kevin Smith and “Soundtrack Movies”

By Isabella McSweeney

In the 90s, soundtrack movies were king. There’s a clear distinction between soundtrack movies and movies with a soundtrack. Movies with a soundtrack are built around big names. They climb the charts to scream “Look at me!” at the top of their lungs and draw in millions of dollars in vinyl sales. That’s not a bad thing, and the music can be brilliant, but the market has become oversaturated. Soundtrack movies, which have become something of a novelty in the 21st century, build a world around what we hear and how that relates to the film’s characters. They lend themselves to stories about growing up and finding your place in the world. No one understands this better than Kevin Smith.

Smith’s specialty is stories about outcasts, misfits, and stoners with dead-end jobs and no future. The one thing they do have is community. In a way, these protagonists embody every stereotype associated with the 90s alt-rock scene. Smith uses our expectations to weave a cohesive world where the soundtrack is true to the characters’ personalities while still being something they would listen to. Unlike many modern soundtracks, songs are interspersed with snippets of conversation. His comic book influences are apparent in his ability to tie everything together in a way that’s still campy enough for his target audience to enjoy.

Although his filmography centers on a few common themes, Smith tweaks his soundtracks to give each movie a distinct personality. Clerks (1994) is, at its core, about sticking it to the man. Dante tells anyone who’ll listen that “[he’s] not even supposed to be here today,” closing the store in retaliation to play hockey on the building’s roof. His annoyance can be felt in grungy vocals and guitar solos from bands such as Girls Against Boys, Love Among Freaks, and Alice in Chains. The characters literally become one with the soundtrack in the Soul Asylum music video Smith directed, where the band joins Dante and his friends for a game of roof hockey.

Mallrats (1995), Smith’s sophomore feature, is more about ignoring authority than rebelling against it. It’s in the name—the characters have made a home out of one of the most iconic symbols of American capitalism. While the music is still alt-rock (with a notable reappearance from Girls Against Boys), it’s sweeter. More Radio-friendly. Smith pokes fun at the systems we deem necessary without alienating the fans just watching for a good time.

On a larger scale, Mallrats was made to be a commercial success. There are real stakes and romance b-plots, but in the process of making a good movie, Smith lost some of the heart that made Clerks the indie darling we know today. I’ll be the first to say it—Mallrats has the better soundtrack. It feels like Smith found the balance between niche and mainstream audiences, which modern directors seem to have lost. Soundtrack movies need to be niche because music is made up of niches. Few people are in the same combination of subcultures. Today, producers are so focused on commercial success that they want soundtracks to be as inoffensive and generic as possible, completely missing the reason soundtracks became popular in the first place. We may never be able to recreate the cultural climate that made soundtrack movies popular, but we can learn from them. Maybe then Kevin Smith will be able to make another good movie.