Since nobody at this fine institution of letters bothered to review The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, I'll do it quick-like: It was as awesome as any SpongeBob Squarepants movie ever could hope to be, and I don't even really like SpongeBob.

I do like the rock 'n' roll, though, and the hours I spent listening to the SpongeBob soundtrack were motivation enough to get me into the theater. Let me say this, friends: Taken together, the SpongeBob movie and soundtrack have turned me from a hardened Ren and Stimpy loyalist into a bona fide fan of the precocious golden-hued invertebrate.

On to the soundtrack: First of all, Avril does the theme song. Avril! I love it. Then you've got a pair of more-than-serviceable tracks from two of the greatest bands in the world, The Flaming Lips and The Shins, which should help tide you over till they both release new records. Ween's incomparable "Ocean Man" makes an appearance, along with tracks from Prince Paul and one of the dudes from The Dust Brothers.

Electrocute's "Bikini Bottom" is, like, the best Sleater-Kinney song I've ever heard, except it's about a sponge, and the very idea of Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead singing to children is pretty much worth the money you'll have to spend to hear it.

And there's more! Yeah, sure, the Wilco song is crappy, but you should've written them off a long time ago, and some of the movie dialogue seems sort of unnecessary and random if you haven't seen the film. That's nitpicking, isn't it?

If you or someone you know likes SpongeBob, this CD is really yellow, so it ought to please.

-- By Paul Thompson