Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Juno Soundtrack Review

Published January 16, 2008

The Juno sound track contains songs that reflect the attitude of the movie, which has the same sardonically cheap-shot jokes as Napoleon Dynamite and Superbad, but balances it out with the naïveté of the MTV-watching, Doritos-eating, sharp wit that also comes with being a teenager.

This tone carries throughout the entire sound track in a compilation of 19 folk pop tunes. These songs are sung in a style similar to a children’s CD, but juxtapose this soft fluffy sound with hardened lyrics about drugs, killing yourself and President Bush.

“All I Want Is You” by children’s singer/songwriter Barry Louis Polisar works perfectly as the first song on the sound track, since through all the complicated quirkiness of her teenage pregnancy, Juno MacGuff still manages to embrace her love for Paulie Bleeker.

Alongside the kiddie pop, songs from rock artists from varying decades creep into the sound track: The Velvet Underground from the ’60s, Mott The Hoople from the ’70s and Sonic Youth from the ’80s.

However, the sound track’s real impact comes from The Moldy Peaches lead singer Kimya Dawson, who performs six solo tracks.

In fact, Juno star Ellen Page suggested to the film’s director, Jason Reitman, that he use The Moldy Peaches in the sound track because it was the band that she immediately thought Juno would listen to, according to Pitchfork Media, a music Web site.

Unfortunately, The Moldy Peaches were on hiatus when contacted to contribute their songs to the movie’s sound track, but they still contributed songs to the sound track. The band played two concerts together this past December in honor of the film, fueling rumors that the band will re-unite because of their newfound popularity with Juno, according to Pitchfork Media.

The last song on the sound track is the perfect fit; The Moldy Peaches’ song “Anyone Else But You” is performed by Ellen Page and Michael Cera in the last frame of the movie.

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