Like the film this music was written for, Stewart Copeland's soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish is no masterpiece, but it is an absorbing effort, nonetheless. All but one of the thirteen selections are instrumentals, yet the approach is hardly that of background music; instead, Copeland has created a series of musical characterizations that establish a solid sense of place, time and character. Although the music is hardly obvious in its appeal, its inventive textures and unassuming melodies are engaging.

Remarkably, this record also manages to sound enough like pop music that it may outsell the film it was intended to support. As you'd expect, Copeland is not bashful about connecting this music to his work with the Police, and major sections of "Tulsa Tango" and "Party at Someone Else's Place" sound like Police songs. The most infectious number on the album isn't a Police cop but the quirkily endearing "Don't Box Me In," which puts the tart twang of former Wall of Voodoo vocalist Stan Ridgway on top of Copeland's sophisticated skank and ends up sounding like ... well, like nothing you're ever likely to hear again, unless a cuckoo cowboy reggae band should someday crawl out of the wilds of southwestern Arizona. Charming, evocative and slightly crazed, Rumble Fish is one album that should not be allowed to sneak away. (RS 414)

J.D. CONSIDINE