Still, cult classic or not, how many films have inspired entire albums? That's exactly what Portland, Ore.'s Drats!!! have done here: Welcome to New Granada is a rock operetta that chronologically follows the story arc of Over the Edge, portraying scenes from the movie both sonically and lyrically.
Thus, the scene where Claude accidentally drops acid before art class is depicted in "Claude's Trip" as a warped, Zappa-eque mindbender ("Staring at the painting on the overhead screen / That shit I bought was acid but I thought it was speed"). The optimism of the parents courting potential investors in New Granada is reflected in the upbeat, twisted funk-rock of "Resale Property Values." And "Johnny the Mute," which describes the scene in which the titular character is asked over the phone whether a character is dead, features wood-block percussion to accent the instructions: "one click for yes, two clicks for no." Whether this oddball curio stands on its own merits is a question I can't answer, but for those of us for whom Over the Edge was a formative experience, it's good fun, indeed.
