There's sublime and ridiculous on a dark, brooding show
It's a young adult TV programme on Channel Four's younger, more lascivious sister, crossing the good parts of X-Men and Bad Lads Army into an orange jumpsuited whole. Before I was given the task to review the soundtrack, that was the extent of my Misfits knowledge. But after some research (I know, I was as surprised as you), my perception hasn't really changed, it's still exactly what you'd expect from an original show on E4 - namely innovative, cool and with some classic throwbacks and hidden gems.
The Rapture's Echoes kicks things off on a suitably frenetic tip before moving on to something more recent in the form of Foals. The bands can be split into distinct groups. Garage rock (including some brilliant early BRMC with Rifles), dance and just plain random (1981 Grace Jones?). The likes of Creepin' up the Backstairs providing an entirely incongruous backdrop to the washed out colours in the show - the equivalent of the Marvel Superheroes going on a pub crawl.
The original tracks (composed by Vince Pope) are atmospheric enough and fans of the show will doubtless hear tunes which remind them of key events in the two series' so far. Simon and Alisha's theme in particular is haunting and captures the uplifting fragility and confusion of the show. Pope carries off the rather impressive feat of upstaging luminaries like Blur and The Cure through his own works and it's clear that he will be a composer in high demand.
The comparable is an act like MGMT and the boon it received after being featured prominently on Skins and whilst there aren't any really unknown tracks on this, it will be interesting to note how the bands involved do as a result of being featured on Misfits. The cynic in me though is grumbling away at the inclusion of a couple of tracks, the likes of Labi Siffre might work on screen, but just seems to be an snooty choice by a musical director who's showing off and comes across as just damn pretentious.
It's the usual case with soundtracks, as a collection of songs, there's no real bind between them (BRMC and Grace Jones, anyone?), but through events in the show, the added context gives the songs meaning and hopefully will expose the lesser known acts to an audience that might not be familiar with some of the acts. A third series is on the way and I think it's a safe bet to say that the soundtrack will enhance the channel's continued reputation to stay away from the charts for it's soundtracks.