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Just a couple of months ago, when I attended an early screening of .com/articles/07/NW0700653.php>Juno, it was just a quirky little indie flick that had gotten some film festival buzz. Now, it’s a phenomenon. Ellen Page and Diablo Cody have become superstars overnight, and people wander around saying things like “honest to blog” (which, just for the record, I just say to irritate my colleague, Bill Clark, who’s one of the only three people alive who didn’t like the movie).
When I first saw the movie, though, it was more than just the lovable characters and the strange catch phrases that caught my attention; it was the music, too. Starting with Barry Louis Polisar’s catchy “All I Want is You,” which plays during the opening credits, the music from Juno helps to give the movie its cute and quirky feel.
The Juno soundtrack is filled with all of those simple yet ridiculously catchy songs that you couldn’t stop singing for days after you saw the movie. There’s Polisar’s happy-go-lucky opening credits track, along with songs by The Kinks, The Velvet Underground, and even Buddy Holly. There are a few songs that played a bigger part in the movie—like Sonic Youth’s haunting cover of “Superstar” (which was made popular by the Carpenters) and “All the Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople. The soundtrack even includes stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera singing The Moldy Peaches’ “Anyone Else But You” (as well as the original Moldy Peaches version).
The most unusual tracks on the album, though, come from Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches. Dawson’s tracks are light and crunchy—just acoustic guitar and vocals (and, occasionally, some whistling)—and they remind me of those grade school singalongs that we used to have every week when I was in third grade. They’re simple and folksy, and the people singing along don’t always know all the words—or hit all the right notes. Musically, they’re unpolished and even child-like—but that’s what makes them so infectious. It’s also what makes them so fitting for a quirky little indie teen flick like Juno.
Of course, if watching Juno drove you crazy, listening to the music will only drive you crazier—so it’s probably best that you steer clear of this album. But for everyone else, the Juno soundtrack is a great collection of light, catchy little ditties that are sure to put a goofy, third-grade smile on your face. It’s totally wizard. Honest to blog.
