Music Matters

True Blood not just soft-core vampire porn: It's rock with bite

True Blood is more than vampires getting busy.
Yes ... this lead to good music.

Full disclosure: I’m not really a fan of True Blood, the Southern gothic vampire series on HBO which has become quite the cultural phenomenon.

I must admit that I tried to pick it up midstream, leaving me baffled at the plot machinations, but I don’t think it would have mattered much either way. To me, it seemed an uneasy mix of acting hambonery and soft-core porn. Hey, whatever floats your boat; it’s just not my cup of tea. (Or cup of blood, as the case may be.)

That said, the one refreshing thing about True Blood the fact that these vampires had little regret about their bloodlust. No brooding seems to be allowed in Bon Temps, Louisiana, which certainly bucks the trend among the nightwalkers these days. Luckily, the curators of True Blood: Music From the HBO Original Series — Volume 2 have seized upon this abandon and delivered a compilation that might as well be subtitled Undead And Loving It.

All you need to do is look at the collection of oldies chosen for inclusion here to get a sense for the prevalent mood. You’ve got Screamin’ Jay Hawkins making maniacal noises on “Frenzy.” There’s some full-bore garage rock from the 13th Floor Elevators on “You’re Gonna Miss Me.” And Junior Walker & The All Stars deliver boisterous horn-filled bop on “Shake And Fingerpop.” Each of those songs comes just shy of being a novelty, but the sense of fun they bring goes a long way.

Too much of that stuff could have been wearying though, which is why the soundtrack strikes a balance with newer acts a little more studied in their raucousness. Beck plays like Jack White with the scuzzy riffs of “Bad Blood” and the results are slightly askew, but in a good way. Eels contribute “Fresh Blood,” a menacing album track from a few years ago featuring Mark Oliver Everett’s microphone-piercing holler, and darn if it doesn’t sound like it was tailor made for this show.

And M. Ward kicks the album off in fine fashion with his signature hazy rockabilly on “Howlin For My Baby.”

You’ve also got a rock legend pitching in, as Robbie Robertson locks into a sultry groove on “How To Become Clairvoyant.” With his songwriting and guitar-playing gifts clearly intact, the former Band leader certainly raises hopes for his solo album coming out later this year.

Some of the newer faces and lesser-known names don’t fare quite as well. “Evil (Is Going On)” by Jace Everett and CC Adcock goes too far over the top in asserting its wildness, while Chuck Prophet’s “You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)” doesn’t go nearly far enough. And the Thievery Corporation’s use of dialogue clips from the show in “The Forgotten People (Bon Temps Remix)” veers a little close to “Batdance” territory.

Dropped into the middle of this strange mélange of sounds is Lucinda Williams’ stunning ballad “Kiss Like Your Kiss.” With good buddy Elvis Costello harmonizing, Williams’ achingly elegant lament effortlessly digs past all of the silliness to get deep into the wounded core of the vampire myth: The way that the ardor of lust gives way to unfathomable emptiness once it departs.

“Kiss Like Your Kiss” reaches levels of profundity that the rest of the album can’t hope to match, but that’s all right, because the show itself doesn’t get there either.

You’ve still got a mix with about six or seven keepers, which isn’t a bad batting average these days, along with one classic which is worth the price of admission all by itself. If you’ll permit me one more lousy vampire pun, I’d say that certainly doesn’t bite.

Adobe Flash Required for flash player."Frenzy" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Adobe Flash Required for flash player."Bad Blood" by Beck

Adobe Flash Required for flash player."Kiss Like Your Kiss" by Lucinda Williams

Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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