Chuck Season 1

TV Soundtrack

What's so good?

By Clarisse Randolph | February 12th, 2012

Unfortunately for all of us who have fallen in love with Chuck, we now grieve in the wake of the show’s grand finale. But let’s take some time to happily reminisce, and remember how he captured all of our hearts in the first place.

NBC’s Chuck is one of the few comedy-action-drama spy shows that will forever take your breath away, either by laughing too hard or the show’s constant twists, turns, and cliffhangers. It followed the life of Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), a “nerd-herd” computer whiz recruited by the CIA and NSA after all of their secrets became implanted into his brain, making his mind a super computer called the “Intersect.”

Not only did Chuck make our hearts race, but also kept our ears constantly listening for its accompaniment of a top-notch soundtrack. After recently rewatching a bit of Season 1 to ease my sense of nostalgia, there’s no doubt that the jokes, action, and whole chemistry of the show wouldn’t have been able to wriggle into our hearts if not for first getting in through our ears with killer tracks. When there’s already a smile on your face, it sends you into pure ecstasy when a scene becomes intertwined with the perfect song by bands such as The National, Rogue Wave, Spoon, The Shins, Band of Horses, The New Pornographers, and many more.

Chuck was many things — charming, exhilarating, action-packed, witty; but probably its best quality was taste in music. Season 1 featured an array of indie rock, and the tracks you didn’t know you wanted to. I personally thank Chuck for exposing me to new songs and artists that still remain some of my favorite today. So let this playlist be in honor of all of the lesser-known indie tunes that Chuck introduced us to and won us over with.

Check out Season 5′s soundtrack here and here.

Download

"Meredith Bragg - My Absent Will"

Season 1, Episode 9