Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Clerks Soundtrack 15 Years On

Posted by Nick Spacek on Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Fifteen years ago this month, Kevin Smith released his debut film, Clerks. I didn't see it until 1995, thanks to the fact that it played nowhere near where I grew up (and even if it had, I didn't have a driver's license). However, I did see the video for Soul Asylum's "Can't Even Tell," and owned the soundtrack after having read a review of the movie in Rolling Stone, vowing to see it as soon as I could.

click to enlarge Clerks.jpg

In a freak bit of coolness, the hometown video store actually got a copy of Clerks when it hit video, and my brother and I rented it one night. My folks came home from some function just in time for mom to hear the entire "you fucked a dead guy?!?!" scene. Yep. Not my proudest moment.

Consequence of Sound examines the soundtrack as part of its Cinema Sounds series. It's a deep dip into the waters of mid-'90s alternative rock, although it also bears mentioning that Bad Religion would hit the majors with Stranger Than Fiction shortly after their inclusion on the soundtrack. A comparison of Smith's predilection for dialogue snippets with Quentin Tarantino's love of the same would also have been appropriate.

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I think "Chewbacca" has aged the best, personally.

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Posted by Mike Walker on September 4, 2009 at 10:11 AM

I love how there's Soul Asylum and Alice in Chains alongside "Chewbacca" (what a wookie!) and "Berserker" (my love for you is ticking clock).

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Posted by jjskck on September 3, 2009 at 2:02 PM

Very cool. Last time I was back east, I made the pilgrimage to the Quickstop and partook in a cigarette right where Silent Bob once stood. The movie makes the store feel much bigger than it really is, and the video store is now an empty shell with a few sun-faded video cassettes in the window. The empty field you can see across the street during the hockey scene is now filled with townhouses.

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Posted by Truthiness on September 3, 2009 at 1:51 PM
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