* Various Artists

BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA

(Geffen)

Overheard at the checkout counter at a local record emporium: "Um, isn't Isaac Hayes that guy who, like, invented gravity or something?" Other intriguing questions raised by Beavis and Butt-head Do America: is that Pam Grier caressing Butt-head? Is America ready for comixploitation funk? Does Madd Head ("Pimp'n Ain't EZ") know Beavis and Butt-head are, like, just cartoons? You can get the jokes (Butthole Surfers: "The Lord Is a Monkey"; White Zombie: "Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks, and Cannibal Girls") from skimming the titles -- no need to lay down hard cash.

Of course, B&B sucks in an appropriately cartoonish way, from Hayes's Shaft/Coffy-style ode to "Two Cool Guys" to the Chili Peppers' rank white-boy take on "Love Rollercoaster" to Engelbert Humperdinck's cheeseball-galore self-parody, "Lesbian Seagull." Ozzy Osbourne's raspy voice on "Walk on Water" is self-parody too, right? And No Doubt's Ronnie-James-Dio-meets-Faith-No-More "Snakes" ("Open the basket/And listen to the flute play . . . snakes in the basket") is just a set-up for a couple of rancid chuckles along the lines of "Huh-huh, she can play flute for my snake anytime." Lewis Largent is credited as "Music Supervisor." Yeah, definitely a joke.

-- Carly Carioli

(The film Beavis and Butt-head Do America opens on December 20.)