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Karen O and the Kids

Where the Wild Things Are [Motion Picture
Soundtrack] (2009)
Universal Music Group

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Jelone
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on October 6th 2009

I’ve been told that the better the trailer, the worse the movie must be. Comedies include the best jokes. Action flicks show the best explosions. And if a drama can completely boil down its essence to 90 seconds, there’s a good chance it’s really not that involved. The same seems to hold true for the Where the Wild Things motion picture soundtrack. Featuring original compositions by Karen O and the Kids (or, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Friends from Other Bands and Kids), the album scores the upcoming film adaptation of the classic Maurice Sendak children’s book by director (and former O flame) Spike Jonze.

The trailer for the film features the song “Wake Up,” from the Arcade Fire’s full-length debut Funeral. It’s bold and polychromatic and emotionally evocative all on its own. And Jonze, a music video maestro, expertly grafts that song’s resonance to images from his movie. Even if the theatrical cut is a complete failure and bastardization, this short film will still be beautiful. But nothing Karen O presents on the official soundtrack matches “Wake Up.” In fact, for the most part, she runs away from that song’s power.

Where the Wild Things Are presents itself as a subdued acoustic indie album with children on backup vocals. It’s like if Show Your Bones met Kidz Bop and they decided to chill out. And while the disc is not without its intriguing indie quirks -- lead single “All Is Love” is pretty catchy; opener “Igloo” seamlessly blends dialogue from the film with a soft, cooing song; “Rumpus” and “Capsize” are just straight-up great -- there’s this lingering doubt that these are all the second-best choices for the film when compared to the Arcade Fire.

At the same time, though, the soundtrack is by no means a failure. Indeed, the record has charm. Karen O’s boundless energy makes for a perfect match with the cherubic voices of children. Fans of O’s solo single “Hello Tomorrow” will note the similarities between the two. More coos, more chimes, more piano, more acoustic guitar. This is a deliberate break from her dance-punk day job with Yeah Yeah Yeahs (but then again, so was It’s Blitz!). The album is pleasant-sounding, but a little too understated, and underwhelming, to stand on its own. Perhaps once the music is shown with the film Oct. 16, the soundtrack will make sense. As is, it’s a little too formless. Nice enough, but it’s no Funeral.

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RedElephant (October 10, 2009)

i really wanna see this movie.. it might be the trailer that i saw for it like a year ago. but still, it looks amazing.

defianceohioequalslove (October 9, 2009)

"I'm setting myself up for disappointment because I'm banking on this being the greatest movie I've ever seen."

Dude, same here. All my friends think I'm nuts because of it.

colin (October 7, 2009)

it's really good. really sad. really good. (the movie that is.)

eatdogs (October 7, 2009)

you all should check out the five new clips on rotten tomatoes. just those few moments show how much this movie is going forthe gold even more than i originally thought it could.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/dor/objects/55881/where_t he_wild_things_are/videos/WhereTheWildThingsAre_yourstory_100509. html#

MN_DrNick (October 7, 2009)

Spike Jonez has done no wrong in my eyes.

tenwestchaser (October 7, 2009)

I'm setting myelf up for dissapointment because I'm banking on this being the greatest movie I've ever seen.

Michael_Jackson_Jordan (October 7, 2009)

I know this review is not about the movie, nut is the movie any good? That's the question I wanna know and not whether the music fits the movie (because it does.) It seems like people are over-hyping the quality of the film just because the soundtrack was made by Karen O and the trailer has song by Arcade Fire that tugs at your emotions too easily.

colin (October 7, 2009)

i've seen the movie. the music works with it.

spike jonze said at a q&a i attended there's a lot of pop music because as a kid he was really into pop music, and the emotional appeal of it, regardless of lyrical content, was easy to identify with.

trevor905 (October 7, 2009)

so punk rock

Michael_Jackson_Jordan (October 7, 2009)

For a soundtrack made for a movie that has kids as their main audience, this is a pretty nice bonus for people who don't get a discount on the ticket for being under the age of 12. I think this is one of those soundtracks fans will realize outshines the actual movie itself. All I've been hearing is people saying how excited they are to see the thing based on the fact that the trailer's song selections gets them hyped. The film has been marred with post-production tie ups for years now though and the fact that many critics have not been able to review it before its release usually isn't a good sign. It'll be interesting to see if the music is the hype or if the movie matches the music's hype.

eatdogs (October 7, 2009)

that trailer seems to be really makin' the movie seem amazing, but no one has seen it yet...

i just hope it works out for the better. at least the author likes it and i'm glad that it didn't go the tim burton route.

here's the author himself and spike jonze ramblin'...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG16ceUP3v4

HankScorpio (October 7, 2009)

Score is for "Wake Up", probably #3 or so on my all-time favorite songs list. That tune is just incredible.

chadreligion (October 7, 2009)

I got the promo for this a couple of weeks ago, but have only listened to about 3/4 of it. It's not bad, and as far as Karen O goes, it sounds like the more, softer, relaxed Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with a definite organic approach, and at times, quite epic.
It almost seems like there is a sort of curious and playful theme among the songs.
Not bad, but it's not something you'd rock out to... more like something that should be listened to carefully with headphones.
Keep in mind, it is a soundtrack.