Caught by the Fuzz

You certainly wouldn't confuse the soundtrack to Hot Fuzz with a buddy cop movie (thank goodness.) Featuring classic Britpop from The Kinks, T Rex, The Troggs and recent indie rock acts like The Fratellis and Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion), the soundtrack instead pays respects to the genre by using pieces of score from these films it looks to for inspiration: Lethal Weapon III, Bad Boys II and that pantheon of buddy cop movies Point Break. Even with those diversions, this soundtrack is a rarity... one that actually follows a narrative without the need of actual dialogue.

After the opening theme (penned by 007 veteran David Arnold,) our first taste of narrative music comes as co-writer Simon Pegg's character, supercop Nicholas Angel, introduces himself to us over the top of Adam Ant's ’80s camp classic "Goody Two Shoes," and the mood is set. Then XTC's "Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me") helps further Angel as the bobby who gets things done.

When Angel's exploits makes the big city bobbys look bad (turning the usual buddy cop formula on it's ear,) as punishment he's promoted and sent off to Sandford ("the village of the year,") the place with the lowest crime rate in England. It's here that Angel warns a model citizen "this isn't your village anymore," while we hear songs from The Kink's great album Village Green Preservation Society, which frontman Ray Davies wrote with the idea of feeling nostalgia for a simpler time and place. Director Edgar Wright, feeling nostalgic himself, chose to use the town he grew up in (Wells) for this idylic setting, making for the ultimate (and therapeutic) geek fantasy: turn the town you grew up in into the set of a smash-em-up action movie.

One song that didn't make the soundtrack, to my great disappointment, was The Move's "Night of Fear," which hints that there's more going on this village then meets the eye. The Move is a band still begging for discovery here in the states some 40 years after the fact, and while this release wouldn't break them, it at least would have furthered the cause (and got at least a song from them in the Rhapsody music service.)

It's about this time in the film when, to quote Martin Lawrence's character in Bad Boys II: "This sh*t just got real!" Bits from the scores to both Point Blank and BBII make appearances here, but really it's original music contributed to the film by mutual admiration director Robert Rodriguez that steals the show. Pegg's Angel gets his Desperado on, and Rodriguez's score is the perfect marriage for the scene. The movie's only sticking point with me is that Wright falls in love with the Michael Bayisms a bit too much, and the action goes on a little too long (with about two too many climaxes.)

To finish up the film, I couldn't think of a better song then the great Supergrass classic "Caught by the Fuzz," but that's not the ending. Instead there's another Fuzz song, this time written for the film by indie rock legend Jon Spencer called "Here Come The Fuzz."

The stateside release is a trimmed down affair, but as is my want to do, I've included every song as it appeared in the film (and a couple from the trailers) for my Rssmbld Sndtrck (reassmbled soundtrack) series.

>Playlist: Rssmbld Sndtrck - Hot Fuzz

1. "Souljacker Part 1" - Eels - Used in trailers for the film (note: song is mismarked as 'Part 2' in Rhapsody)
2. "Chelsea Dagger" - The Fratellis - Used in trailers for the film
3. "Goody Two Shoes" - Adam Ant
4. "Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)" - XTC
5. "The Village Green Preservation Society (Hot Fuzz)" - The Kinks
6. "Down Bond Street" - Tommy McCook and the Supersonics
7. "Baby Fratelli" - The Fratellis
8."Kick Out the Jams" - Tub Thumper
9. "Slippery Rock 70's" - Stavely Makepeace
10. "Lethal Fuzz (Osymyso Remix)" - John Eric Alexander
11. "I Can't Control Myself" - The Troggs
12. "Lovefool" - The Cardigans
13. "Night Of Fear" - The Move (YouTube)
14. "Romeo And Juliet" - Dire Straits
15. "Blockbuster" - Sweet
16. "Solid Gold, Easy Action" - T Rex (Marc Bolan)
17. "Foot Chase (from Point Blank - Mark Ishram (Download)
18. "Hostage Situation" (from Bad Boys II - Trevor Rabin
19. "Fire" - Crazy World Of Arthur Brown (YouTube)
20. "Village Green" - The Kinks (YouTube)
21. "Dance With The Devil" - Cozy Powell (YouTube)
22. "Heston Services" - Robert Rodriguez (Chingon)
23. "Avenging Angel" - Robert Rodriguez (Chingon)
24. "Caught By The Fuzz" - Supergrass
25. "Solid Gold Easy Action" - The Fratellis
26. "Here Come The Fuzz" - Jon Spencer & The Elegant Too
27. "The Hot Fuzz Suite" - David Arnold (score medley)

More: To underscore even more the significance of music in the film, Pegg's character Nicolas Angel is a nod to music supervisor extraordinaire Nick Angel (who also worked with the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg team on Shaun of the Dead.)

tags: film, hot fuzz, music, soundtrack, the kinks, the fratellis, jon spencer, adam ant, movies, point break, t rex, rhapsody