Various Artists Issue #27

High School Reunion: A Tribute To Those Great ’80s Films! (American Laundromat/Face Down)

By Amber Drea
Published: March 1st, 2006 | 12:00am

This parasitic compilation covers 20 songs from ’80s film soundtracks including Say Anything, Some Kind Of Wonderful, and most of Molly Ringwald’s career, which would have been great had the labels had commissioned more interesting bands. Other than a few gems from bigger names and some pleasant surprises from lesser-knowns, High School Reunion features a bunch of poorly thought-out renditions by second-rate artists.

Among the songs worth hearing are “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” which AM twists into a garage-rock anthem ending with a bluesy swing jam, and the Modifiers’ hard rock take on “Love My Way.” Campy, piano-driven cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls do their thing on “Pretty In Pink,” and Kristin Hersh’s quiet, acoustic performance of “Wave Of Mutilation” is endearing. Frank Black, who is the only artist to both cover and be covered, creates a creepy, atmospheric version of Iggy Pop’s “Repo Man.”

The rest of the record is pretty mediocre. The Caulfield Sisters’ “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” is good until the banjo kicks in, while the Bennies’ sloppy, out-of-tune “Weird Science” and Lori McKenna’s alt-country “In Your Eyes” should be avoided at all costs. If I wanted to hear songs from my favorite ’80s movies, I’d download them off the Internet.