Grandma's Boy Soundtrack Review
Some soundtracks so parallel a film that the music
itself is often seen as the highlight, and occasionally those coveted
soundtrack spots result in a hefty expansion of a musician’s following. For
instance, Iron & Wine and The Shins both rose to prominence outside of the
alternative music culture thanks to 2004’s Garden State. As “indie” music is
currently receiving a warmer embrace from the mainstream as opposed to years
past, the soundtracks have no choice but to follow. We’ve seen all the
artists on the O.C. Mix series, and though most wouldn’t associate those
musicians with either the lifestyle led by the characters on the show, or with
the masses who tune in to the sitcom, the trend of pushing these alternative
artists to new, less “indie” crowds is growing.
The Grandma’s Boy soundtrack beckons to be well-received by those “hipper”
kids, but fails (though not miserably) on two planes. If you’re at all
familiar with the films Sandler himself starred in throughout the 90s, or
those his company has made since (Deuce Bigalow, Joe Dirt, The Animal, etc.)
it’s clear that there’s no clear connection as to what exactly brings these
artists to their position as in a film that has no obvious ties to their
stance as musicians. That’s to say, Sandler’s films exist comfortably in the
light of the mainstream, whereas those contributing to this soundtrack are
relatively obscure to movie’s target audience.
Secondly, there’s little continuity in the soundtrack itself. Amongst the
multitudes of dance-laden indie bands, there are snippets of pointless (and
often flat-out stupid) snippets of audio from the film, a few hip hop numbers
(one courtesy of Paul Wall, another from Zion I, and the disc’s closer from
Kool Keith), and “Can’t Kick the Habit,” an offering from the Spin Doctors’
latest record. The latter fits into the presumably marijuana-laden humor and
story-line of the film, but I’m troubled by where exactly the inclusion of
quasi-alternative artists such as Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Fischerspooner,
Moving Units, Ima Robot, and VHS or Beta fit in, save for the fact that all
but Moving Units have major record deals, and their respective labels felt the
need to give them a push—each artist’s included song can be found the artist’s
most recent album, and Bloc Party plans on releasing theirs, “Helicopter,” as
a single in the next few weeks. Not that this in itself necessi!
tates in a failure, but typically one hopes to get previously unreleased
material from a soundtrack inclusion, not a song that’s been on the market for
a year or longer. The only other notable track is Aphex Twin’s 1999
electronica hit “Windowlicker,” which isn’t nearly as effective as when
presented with its video.
On a more positive note, the record does present the possibilities of exposing
these emerging artists to a new, wider audience, but to revert to stereotyping—
the market for this film and the market for the majority of this soundtrack
don’t exactly parallel one another. But, if you’ve found yourself entertained
and dancing to the current crop of new wave revivalism, but don’t know where
to start, the Grandma’s Boy soundtrack isn’t the worst place to start.
David Barker returned to Whim, because none can stay away too long!
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Post a New Comment
No Subject Posted by Christian
David Barker...so silly
No Subject Posted by Adam FrazierCheck out this guy - Donatello on the shoulder No Subject Posted by Andrew Lent
No more Donatello . . . he made me change it!
No Subject Posted by Adam FrazierLAME David... LAME Moving Units Posted by EdMoving Units is touring with Nine Inch Nails, so even they are starting to get mainstream recognition. Is this good? No, not really.
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