The A-Bones

Rock ‘n’ roll flicks that aspire to quality are usually a waste of time. The ones sincerely committed to being dumb, however, can be treasure troves of useful bad taste. I Was a Teenage Mummy (released in ’92, but stuck in ’65), for example, is brimming with quotably stupid soliloquies and hammed-up hipster lingo that will crack you right up and reap untold benefits for your skills of repartee. Not to mention: gore, histrionics, high school jocks played by thirtysomethings, a villainous exchange student . . . oh, and statuesque tough girls in vampy, tight, vintage getups. Ahem, not to get distracted. Aside from the general teen exploitation vibe, what makes I Was a Teenage Mummy a true rock ‘n’ roll flick is the soundtrack and integrated live performances by Brooklyn’s A-Bones, a supremely fun band that revived garage rock long before any of the official revivals. On the 24-song soundtrack, the music looks decisively backward with woolly frat-rock, slashing rockabilly and ’50s ballads, but the spirit, far from nostalgic, draws to mind one of the movie’s pithier quotes: All right, let’s percolate!