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A great film gets a 2/3’s great soundtrack.
Yes, I realize that I’m reviewing a soundtrack CD for a film that hit theaters months ago. Why am I just now getting around to reviewing the CD, then? Well, because it’s for Juno. I really liked the film, as many did, but I also hold to a creed that a soundtrack must stand on its own two feet. Because I was so enamored by the “little indie that could,” I felt that trying to listen to the CD too early would let my feelings on it be overrun by what I remembered from the film itself.
The verdict? Well, late delivery aside, if it was a real baby, it would be underweight and in need of care.
There’s plenty to like here. Comprised of folk songs and low-key indie songs, Juno has some wonderful moments. The opening track is Barry Louis Polsar’s “All I Want is You,” a fun little ditty utilizing a strumming guitar and a harmonica. Spread throughout the disc are classic songs by the Kinks (“A Well Respected Man”) and Mott the Hopple (“All the Young Dudes”), which are just ace. Sonic Youth’s unique cover of “Superstar” feels a little out of place, but I love the song too much to care. Several of the more recent contributions are of the Belle & Sebastian school of songs, which makes sense since B&S are present as well.
No, the real problem is one Kimya Dawson. With a soundtrack comprised of 19 songs, Dawson is responsible for six of them. Her stuff starts off well enough, but grows into grating ear-numbing banality shortly afterwards. There’s potential there, but it just isn’t enough and her sound grows very tiresome very quickly. I don’t know why her solo stuff isn’t as fun as what she does with her band the Moldy Peaches (whose track “Anyone Else But You” is included), but it just isn’t. They’re virtually identical, but miles apart somehow. Rounding out the disc is a fun little track of Juno stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera covering the Moldy Peaches song.
Maybe the Dawson stuff just needs time to grown on me; after all, I hated the Peaches the first time I heard them. Otherwise, the Juno soundtrack is really good and ultimately stands on it own as a nice collection of indie and classic songs, mostly acoustic, that holds up well long after the film has come and gone.
