VARIOUS – KIDS
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (LONDON)
The movie Kids terrified me. It disgusted and repulsed me. And it wasn’t so much the horrid actions of
the characters, it was the attitude attached.
How could they be so proud of what they were doing? Why did it leave feeling picked on?
For the longest time
the film was not available in this country on video. It was banned not that anybody really noticed. Indeed other than the few hipsters that saw
the film on release, it was one of those cases where the soundtrack was better
known than the actual movie.
The first time I saw Kids was on a Saturday
night in east London. We were in town with Hirameka Hi-Fi recording their first
single for Che Records
offshoot Extreme
Sports and Nick from the label had an American NTSC VHS of the film which
we all sat down and watched. Certain
underage members of the band (the rhythm section) had already seen it and
indulged in the junior hedonism while I just looked on horrified at the bratty
advances of the participants. Was this
what kids were doing today? Then
afterwards Nick declared “that’s a powerful film”. Really?
This is very much
known as something of a Lou Barlow project, mostly/mainly using his Folk
Implosion vehicle with John Davis as the band inhabits seven of the thirteen
tracks. Indeed it even spawned a “hit”
in the form of “Natural
One”. Then in addition to that he
revs up with the ferocious and noisier Deluxx Folk Implosion using “Daddy
Never Understood” for the opening credits before using his own solo
composition “Spoiled” for the closing credits.
The
appearance/attendance of Daniel Johnston is a grand gesture. It’s funny to note how similar his voice is
to that of the annoying Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick). The vocal chords of both creaky and high suggesting a lack of
physical and emotional development somewhere down the line. In much the same manner that Kurt Cobain
wore a “Hi,
How Are You?” t-shirt at the 1992 MTV Awards this was an olive branch being
extended to bring a great hidden talent to attention. And his two tracks here sat perfectly entitled “Casper” and
“Casper The Friendly Ghost” seemingly in honour/tribute to the sidekick of the
piece’s villain. “Casper” feels
particularly apt sounding drunk, damaged and dizzying all in one foul swoop.
When I travelled to California
in 2003 this album was one of the priorities on my wishlist. It’s time had passed and it was hardly any
longer the epitome of cool but the emotions of the record remained important to
me, right down to the colour scheme. I
hadn’t really cared for the movie but the concept was strong. And for some reason at the time it felt that
you couldn’t find the record in England for love nor money (which of course was
nonsense). I would buy a used copy on
CD from a store called The Beat! in
Sacramento for $8.99. The locals around
me said this was an album you could now find in the reduced bins but I couldn’t
see it. Had nothing been learnt? Later during the visit I wound up in San
Francisco one weekend sleeping on somebody’s floor while next to me lay a
boring couple. When I woke silently on
the Sunday morning, with no other life around I took a swig of Jim Beam and
masturbated.
The Folk Implosion is
a great act. Their music is played down
and subtle but very affecting all the same.
There are huge atmospherics attached to what appear slow and simple gestures. For me this was always what was great about
indie in the nineties, people didn’t tend to say or do much but when they did
it was all important and all exciting, cool by nature and swift in
circulation. The pair may not have been
cool but they certainly sounded it.
It’s quite funny to
contrast this album with what appears in the movie and on that note despite the
abundance of hip hop in the film here the only offering comes from an act
called Lo-Down who it appears were quite a mystery and never recorded ever
again. Surely an inside joke.
For me this record
represents a very exciting and adds a gloss to a series of exciting
memories. I am so glad that this was
the soundtrack even if Kids was not my life.
Elsewhere if you look
hard enough on the internet you will come across an apparent two disc thirty
nine track complete version of the soundtrack.
This includes three instrumental tracks by the Beastie Boys as well as
songs used in the film by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins Average White Band, A
Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian amongst others. There are also eight addition Folk Implosion tracks including the
three Unkle
remixes as featured on the second “Natural One” CD single.
Jesus Christ, what
happened?
Thesaurus moment:
remembrance.
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