The Sadies: Tales of the Rat Fink

Following up their brilliant live album, the Sadies continue to prove they’re as fun as any band around right now. Tales of the Rat Fink, the soundtrack to the mostly-animated movie, is a slight little disc, but in tearing through 26 tracks in half an hour, it’s a reminder that not all rock albums should be big art. If you get past the bothersome cover art, you’ll find a mash of mostly instrumental surf and rockabilly tracks. The Sadies, who may or may not be part of any of a number of genres, dive into muscle cars and duck tails. Pick any track at random and it represents the album; there aren’t standout tracks here any more than there are let downs, with Rat Fink providing a sort of unified chaos. The Good brothers and company have no interest in making exceptional music, which is, of course, how really fun records get made.