Why do all teen movies have silly croaky shouty rock bands as the soundtrack?

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American Pie was on yesterday which has Harvey Danger and Blink 182 and Third Eye Blind and , and then tonight And then tonight, Scream 2, which ends with Less Than Jake's version of I Think I Love You, which is performed by a character in the film, but I can't imagine there being a band doing it that they'd rather choose - so erm, why?

I know there is a major demographic correlation, but the US Garage rock bands are surely only part of what that demographic listens to, so why do they use them so much? Yeah, there are other songs on these films, but most of those could be on any film, so I'm interested in why there's such a close relationship between these two genres.

― Graham (graham), Sunday, 25 August 2002 21:20 (twenty-three years ago)

i was watching "gregory's girl" with some friends and we were chuckling at the soundtrack as you do - but then i realised that however dated it may be it just makes it more of it's time and of it's period whereas the american films - the john hughes stuff - with their soundtracks are much more pop based and soundtrack bound and accordingly seem INCREDIBLY dated. they're intrinsically tied to that music and that period. the film as marketing tool for kids with the film/ lifestyle/ music. "gregory's girl" can't be arsed with that and has more of a realist bent and just gets on with their lives - the john hughes films seem so horribly crafter, you can almost hear the cogs work, see the cliches coming. never liked them, and even the better ones - "ferris bueller" for example - which i do like are still so dated, so much more so than forsyth's film

i'm digressing from a reasonably ill-formed thought here. the new soundtracks are similar to me anyway - a crass attempt to diversify different musical forms as an attempt to show the cross section of the kids (i'm thinking of "10 things i hate about you" particularly because it's the only soundtrack i know well - which does pop-punk/ ska/ squeeze etc on one album). it's sort of "this music associates you with the outsider kids" as well. but it's more a case of "hey to be a cool outsider kid like in this film buy this music"

does that make any sense whatsoever? if not sorry, tired etc blech. but yeah... away you go...

― commonswings, Sunday, 25 August 2002 21:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Blink 182 ARE American Pie. They have the same balance of corny "were just big softies, really" sentimentality and gross-out, cum-encrusted sock humour. Like all those MTV punk groups. Hence their inclusion in these films.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Sunday, 25 August 2002 21:58 (twenty-three years ago)

same reason belle and sebastian and other 'easy listening' musics are in all dem art house flicks

― chaki (chaki), Sunday, 25 August 2002 22:03 (twenty-three years ago)

How does this fit with Scream though?

― Graham (graham), Sunday, 25 August 2002 22:05 (twenty-three years ago)

what about 'save the last dance', 'dangerous minds', 'sister act 2' etc. etc.?

― suomynona, Sunday, 25 August 2002 22:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I am really confused as to what U.S. Garage rock has to do with the aformentioned bands.

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 25 August 2002 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

(I must be really confused about garage rock is then. Sorry)

― Graham (graham), Sunday, 25 August 2002 23:04 (twenty-three years ago)

that filter song at the end of i know what you did last summer is the best non hiphop music in film moment of the nineties

― simon trife (simon_tr), Sunday, 25 August 2002 23:35 (twenty-three years ago)

US Garage rock to me is Stokes (kinda), White Stripes, Catheters... I wouldn't really count Blink 182 (greenday lite) or 3rd Eye blind (diet grunge lite) as garage rock, but then what do I know.
Anyway, Dangerous Minds had Gangsta's Paradise on the soundtrack, I think, which would make it one of the best ones listed here. The Clueless soundtrack was also pretty good- Kids in America and some other good songs.

― lyra (lyra), Monday, 26 August 2002 01:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I think your mention of demographic is about 99% of the reason. Its entirely about marketing, especially with movies that are so blatantly commerical vehicles like XXX or something. Plus you have these mega media corps like Sony or Time Warner which make films and music. So why not promote 'em together? And why not to their most prized consumer age bracket? And what kinda music are those kiddies listening to these days?

― bnw (bnw), Monday, 26 August 2002 03:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Teen movies that don't have silly croaky shouty rock bands on the soundtrack: Ghost World, Heathers, Rumble Fish, Rebel Without A Cause, Rushmore, Say Anything, The Graduate.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 26 August 2002 05:05 (twenty-three years ago)

also soundtrack albums are put out and they need recognisable chart pop acts in these so that they can sell those.

Overall, the songs are appropriate (American pie, which i also watched and blink 182 tie in perfectly together).

also, in the case of that movie you don't want the songs taking over the film, just going with it, in which case Blink 182's produced riffage suits it perfectly.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 26 August 2002 05:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Nu-Metal and kiddipunk only sound good on movie and videogame soundtracks so I think it's a bit harsh if anyone wishes them gone.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 26 August 2002 06:06 (twenty-three years ago)

really the song in i know what you did last summer is so amazingly good!! its just like this overwhelming immediacy of being a modern american teenager and having the entire world at your whim

― simon trife (simon_tr), Monday, 26 August 2002 06:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Sorry I meant bubblepunk. Kiddipunk sounds too demeaning.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 26 August 2002 06:09 (twenty-three years ago)

tom you rockist!!

― simon trife (simon_tr), Monday, 26 August 2002 06:12 (twenty-three years ago)

The Substitute 2: Schools Out had Schooly D on the soundtrack. (Why did I stay up watching this film?)

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 26 August 2002 07:01 (twenty-three years ago)

I like how Gregory in Gregory's girl has a Specials poster next to a Mahogony Rush poster in his teenboy bedroom. Kind of summed up his dorky coolness.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 26 August 2002 11:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I like the term bubblepunk, kiddiepunk sounds too much like criminal offense material for me.

US Garage rock bands, well I dont know about the US but Garage rock was always stuff like Deja Voodoo, The Gruesomes and Shadowy Men on A Shadowy Planet to me, along with all the other stuff found all over It Came From Canada record series.

I think American Pie was a little better in the actual movie (they used BJM's Going To Hell which was left off the soundtrack) but the best I can remeber was Ten Things I Hate About You but that might be my memory messing with me cause I actually liked that movie.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 26 August 2002 12:51 (twenty-three years ago)

fritz i think you're halfway there with the rush and specials posters in gregory's room - more i think it's just here's a teenager who likes stuff that's cool - i'm FAIRLY sure there's a patti smith poster in there as well - and that's not quite so cool. forsyth does it before this in "that sinking feeling" where the member of the sink theft gang who plays guitar plays the sex pistol's "bodies" and at the closing credits "you are the sunshine of my life". forsyth worked closely with the kids, improvising a lot of stuff so i guess that was just their taste. adds to the naturalist realism of the film. of course nothing to do with this particular thread though... :-)

― commonswings, Monday, 26 August 2002 13:18 (twenty-three years ago)

three years pass...

The Punky Pop bands make the movie more apealing when advertising it becase when seeing a gross out scene advertised with Either Blink 182 , Fallout boy or Goldfinger blasting over it it makes you say man that looks so cool I must go see that where as if the likes of Some bland boring UK bands music was playing you might think nah I'll wait for it to come on TV , you see music goes with TV and Movies WWE Usually is acompanied by Some disturbed , sevendust , Metallica Or Kidrock a 9:00pm ITV Brittish adult drama is usually acompanied by The Beautiful South , Simply Red (shudder) or some equally Crappy middle of the road group

― Stewie Griffin, Friday, 2 December 2005 18:48 (twenty years ago)

fourteen years pass...

Start here then check out what people made in response:

the girl from the movie who is "different" pic.twitter.com/DeuYcBStzk
— Eva Victor (@evaandheriud) August 18, 2020

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 19 August 2020 18:00 (five years ago)

Teen movies that don't have silly croaky shouty rock bands on the soundtrack: Ghost World, Heathers, Rumble Fish, Rebel Without A Cause, Rushmore, Say Anything, The Graduate.
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham)

Is The Virgin Suicides a teen movie or an art movie? Probably both, but you can add that--also, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 August 2020 18:03 (five years ago)

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