Spoon's Metal Detektor

For years I wanted to use The Sound of Sinners by the Clash during a tryout sequence in Calvin Marshall.  Even just imagining the "judgement day" chorus to our storyboards seemed too good to be true.  Joe Strummer's ironic wail and that driving gospel-tinged rock 'n roll?  It was a perfect match for this pivotal sequence where Calvin's inflated view of his ability hits an all time high.

This time around in post, the sequence worked as well as I had hoped.  During test screenings, many Clash fans who ignored Sandinista! we're intrigued by the track and revisited this underrated opus.  I had a long history with this song and now that I could see and feel the finished sequence, it was devastating to be forced to choose another song.

I won't lie to you, money was the primary reason we had to let it go. Six figures has a nasty ring to it on a small movie.  And besides, we had already set up a favored nation structure for licensing songs from the majors.  Even if we could afford the huge price tag, we legally couldn't go against the structure we set up.  A structure that was implemented so we could license several major label songs at the same low rate and comfortably stay under budget. 

Usually in filmmaking, if you stay open minded and positive, a situation like this will become a blessing in disguise.  Enter SPOON. They've played driving jangle rock 'n roll for years and their growing catalog immediately presented us with a number of cool options. Funny, now that I think about it, even Britt Daniel's vocals are in the same universe as Joe's.  Both impassioned with a slight gravel...

After listening to every album obsessively, I had a short list right away; Don't Make Me A Target and Utilitarian -- but I was most smitten with Sister Jack.  Amazing song!  But there was just something about the connotations of the lyrics while watching Calvin play that I didn't quite love...    

And more importantly, I was hoping for a song that had a long enough bridge so the brief bits of dialogue (Coach, Calvin, Murphy) would fit better between the vocals.  (This was actually a problem with The Clash too)

Long story short, Metal Detektor became the song that not only replaced an irreplaceable song, but exceeded it in the end.  The tone and pace were made to order and the lyrics were less on the nose than The Clash's "Judgement Day" chorus.  Calvin was, in a way, getting away with a crime.  The Metal Detektor was ringing and he was doing all he could to get through the door.

Now, months later -- all of us working on the film love this sequence and would never replace Spoon.  Even if the The Clash was the same price.

Tomorrow the scene will be online and I will link to it from here.