Soundtrack: Crime + Punishment in Suburbia
Composer/Artist(s): Frank Black, Toadies, Sleater Kinney, Meat Puppets, more
Year: 2000
Genre(s): "Western-Influenced" late 90's Indie Rock

DOWNLOAD -- Crime+Punishment in Suburbia

So this week, I bring one of my favorite 90's soundtracks out of the vault. The compilation is perfect for any Pixies fan. Frank Black and Joey Santiago both contribute original instrumentals in addition to a Pixies' cover (Monkey Gone to Heaven) from Far. The Soundtrack kicks off with classic LCW-era Modest Mouse and also has songs by Sleater Kinney, Meat Puppets, and Guided by Voices. My favorite track on this soundtrack comes from a band called Op8 and their track "Sand". OP8 was the musical collaboration of the multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano; Howe Gelb, the man behind the rock band Giant Sand; Joey Burns and John Convertino, who later formed Calexico. OP8 only released one record in 1997.

The soundtrack is very western in theme, and the director Rob Schmidt has this to say in the Liner Notes...

"We set out to make a movie about outsiders and kids who secretly suspect that they're outsiders... Music is one of the only places where it's safe to feel things, to be at home. Especially if you're trapped in a house that you can't leave, in a town that you can't escape, music is one of the only places that you can live. It is a Sanctuary. Modest Mouse has an album titled "Lonesome Crowded West". That was the thing we wanted to get across in the soundtrack. A western, suburban wasteland from a teenage point of view. We wanted to bring indie rock, electronica, and old school Western styles of music into the movie and I believe we've done that. Joey Santiago and Frank Black from the Pixies were very important in creating the score. I love them and the work they did on our film. Michael Brook, who scored Affliction was responsible for much of the western flavor in our score."

For me, this soundtrack was the first introduction I had on Modest Mouse. I had heard of them, I had heard them... but I was listening to KSCU in Santa Clara, CA working in a photo lab when I heard the moody and benevolent swings in this classic Modest Mouse track ("Trailer Trash"). It had an immediate impression on me and I ran out to get the Lonesome Crowded West... the rest is history when it comes to what that album did to my musical tastes.

Just for kicks. I found this Modest Mouse show bootlegged July 5, 1998, hear a crazy version of "Trailer Trash" here.

As for the film, I never have seen Crime+Punishment in Suburbia. It looks like a dated film that borrows (and is loosely based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment") all the nostalgia from the aforementioned films, but perhaps on less of a budget? I don't know... It looks pretty cornball from the youtube clips.