Joshua Carro - Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Original Soundtrack (2LP)

Released in 2022 alongside Gearbox’s gleefully chaotic fantasy spin-off, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Joshua Carro’s Original Soundtrack lands like a riot of color that still knows when to step back and breathe. The game lives on that uneasy line between sincere tabletop heroism and all-caps silliness, and Carro’s score is the connective tissue. It swings confidently from stately orchestral writing to scrappy folk textures and crunchy electronic grit, then stitches it together with rhythms that feel engineered for boss arenas and tight corridor fights.

What strikes first is the palette. You get bright strings that climb like party members scaling a castle wall, wooden flutes and whistles that sketch out a medieval town square, and drums that kick the doors in. Carro layers hand percussion with deep toms and cinematic low end so the music keeps momentum even when the game tosses you into a swarm. Then, right when the fantasy sheen starts to feel familiar, a serrated synth or distorted bass snarls through the mix. It is a smart move for Wonderlands, where Queen Butt Stallion and a goblin side quest can sit one scene away from a dragon fight. The score treats those pivots like a challenge, and the contrast becomes part of its personality.

There are recurring shapes you can hang onto as a listener. A heroic contour outlines the big triumph moments, something you can hum after a few plays, while playful, slightly crooked motifs pop up in areas touched by Tiny Tina’s chaotic narration. Carro lets some cues sprawl with long sustains and stippled textures, almost ambient in their patience, then counters them with tightly wound battle pieces that drive hard on rhythm. The best cues ride that middle path, where an old-world melody line gets shadowed by a synth arpeggio and a taiko-leaning pulse, and suddenly the track feels both fantastical and modern.

It helps that the production leans into space. Reverbs bloom wide enough to place you inside vaulted caverns and echoing keeps, but the mixes keep the center clear so themes read at a glance. Low brass and cellos punch without smearing; high strings skate instead of screeching. On headphones the detail work jumps out, from subtle frame drum rolls to breathy woodwind ornaments that hint at Celtic and Eastern colors without turning the whole thing into pastiche. When the action ramps, the sub frequencies land with that rollercoaster-drop feeling that modern game scores chase, but there are quiet, lantern-lit corners too. A few cue endings fade into gentle drones and bell tones, like a tabletop party resting up before the next terrible decision.

If you’ve spent time with earlier Borderlands scores, you can feel the shared DNA in the hybrid approach, yet Carro steers Wonderlands into its own lane. Where the mainline series leans hard on futuristic swagger, this soundtrack is more about pageantry and storybook sweep, then scuffing that gloss with grit when the guns come out. It is a balance that rewards straight-through listening, even outside the game. Put it on while painting minis or sorting gear and you can live in its world for an hour without it feeling like pure combat music.

Collectors will want to keep an eye out. This is the kind of album you want spinning during a late-night session, which means the hunt for Joshua Carro vinyl or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Original Soundtrack vinyl is very real. If you buy Joshua Carro records online, you already know how fast modern game scores vanish from storefronts, and how often you have to pounce when a pressing appears. I can picture this turning up behind the counter of a friendly Melbourne record store and disappearing before lunch, the sort of thing crate-diggers chat about across shops that trade in game OSTs and cult film scores, from local haunts to the vinyl records Australia crowd.

As a piece of game music craft, it works. As an album, it’s surprisingly generous, with enough melodic signposts and mood shifts to keep casual listeners engaged without needing the on-screen chaos as context. The charm lies in those moments when fantasy dignity and Borderlands mischief meet in the same bar, and Carro doesn’t flinch. He lets the score grin, swing a sword, fire a shotgun, and keep marching. If your shelves already hide a few Joshua Carro albums on vinyl, this one deserves a spot right next to them, sleeves scuffed from play, ready for the next campaign.