'American Teen' music getting a 2008 update

Though Sundance darling "American Teen" was filmed way back in 2005, the documentary will be infused with a bit of 2008, at least when it comes to its music.

Nanette Burstein's film, which follows four seniors at Warsaw Community High School in Indiana, is a compelling look at how teens balance the pressures of dealing with college and their parents during their graduating year. As it stands, "American Teen" has a fresh, indie-focused sound, one that keeps the film current without embellishing the inherit drama of teen life.

Credits roll to power-pop band the New Pornographers lilting "My Rights Versus Yours," while the score was composed by singer-songwriter Michael Penn, who has also worked on "Boogie Nights" and "The Last Kiss," among others. Just a few of the other artists featured in the film include Moby, indie-rockers the Unicorns and indie hip-hop duo Blackalicious.

The film's Facebook page (1,200 fans and counting) has a teaser for an upcoming soundtrack. It mentions some bands of the moment, such as peppy dance rockers the Ting Tings, and spacey buzz band MGMT. (The latter's "Time to Pretend" opened gambling flick "21.") 

But one interesting note: Neither of those bands is actually in "American Teen," at least as things stand now.

Having just caught the film, I was eager to hear a little bit of the Tings on the big screen, hoping the act would come off better than it does on the small screen. But "American Teen" came and went without any music from the acts being marketed with it, including two from Almost Gold Recordings -- the new-wavy electronics of Does It Offend You, Yeah and the retro-styled pop of the Black Kids. (Note: Reader Liv wrote in to inform me that the Black Kids are indeed in the film. See Liv's comment below, in which case I apologize for missing them.)
 

But expect that to change before the film opens for the public this summer.

A spokesperson for the film's distributor, Paramount Vantage, said such acts would most likely find their way into the movie. It's not entirely uncommon for a film's music to be altered as it works its way from Sundance to an official release date, and for a word-of-mouth film, a buzzed-about soundtrack could do wonders, as evidenced by "Juno" this past winter. Whether the addition of the Ting Tings and the Black Kids will give "American Teen" some indie cred remains to be seen, but it's yet another reason I'll look forward to seeing it a second time.

Fans of "American Teen" need not fear, as it will remain otherwise untouched from how it screened at Sundance, save for some updates on the whereabouts of the young adults featured in the film.

The film is on target for a summer break release date of July 25 in Los Angeles and New York. It will get an expanded release in August, and there will be more on the film and its soundtrack here on Extended Play closer to its release date.

Update: Music & movies blog the Playlist has followed-up with a a track listing for the "American Teen" soundtrack, which it says is due July 15.

Screen capture courtesy "American Teen's" Facebook page.

Dear Columbia, please don't ruin the Ting Tings

For all intents and purposes, the U.K. duo the Ting Tings has now made it. And the peppy dance-rock act hasn't even sold an album in the U.S.

Its "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is in heavy rotation nightly, thanks to its placement in the latest iPod commercials for Apple. It's one of three songs from the act's debut album for Columbia Records, "We Started Nothing," that can be freely and legally heard in the U.S. (out digitally on May 20, and in ye olde CD format on June 3).

While the band seems relatively pleased by the placement, adorably writing on its website that the ad resulted in a "very big week for the Tings," is this cause for worry?

Certainly Apple's iPod is deemed a "cooler" product than Bud Lime, but these things have a tendency to be a bit ubiquitous. After all, there's no reason for Feist to ever again perform "1234," as the song no longer belongs to her. It's more or less Steve Jobs' property now.

And the same goes for Yael Naim's precious "New Soul." But even worse, if the Ting Tings don't follow in the footsteps of Feist and find themselves performing at the 2009 Grammys, they could go the way of the Fratellis, heretofore known as one of the many bands who "had one of those iPod songs."

On the plus side, Apple had the decency to pick one of the Ting Tings' lesser songs, thereby preserving the integrity, thus far, of the act's superior tunes. While the disco groove and punky guitar spikes of "Shut Up," coupled with Katie White's insistence that she ain't "freaking" or "faking," pack plenty of spunk, it's also a bit thinner -- and sillier -- than "Great DJ," or the terrific "That's Not My Name."

The latter is the current single in the U.K., and a video has been out for weeks. But Columbia hasn't made it available to buy in the U.S. Note to major labels: The right to complain about file-sharing is hereby forfeited if a song cannot be purchased once the band has posted it on its MySpace page.

But for now, the song -- one of the strongest singles of 2008 -- remains free of any corporate endorsements. It's got a hip-hop brashness, a slinky beat and a booming grand finale (self-plagiarism alert), resulting in a smashing singalong number. But see for yourself. And let it play -- the fuzzy guitar pickup at about the 3-minute mark is the kind of pop perfection that's spine chilling.

Photo: Associated Press