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Paul Westerberg

Paul Westerberg: Open Season Motion Picture Soundtrack (Lost Highway)

The world was perhaps just a little shook a decade back when cult singer/songwriter Randy Newman became Disney-Pixar’s de facto house songwriter. Who could figure the auteur of the “unreliable narrator,” who sang in the voices of slave traders and short-people-haters, would end up scoring films under Mickey Mouse’s banner? That’s nothing compared to what Sony Pictures has pulled. Yep, it’s Paul Westerberg making the music for a kid’s movie. While he winked and nudged at his soundtrack possibilities in his first post-Replacements outing when he added a pair of songs to Cameron Crowe’s grunge-era dating dissection Singles, the beer-sodden punk poet providing the musical backdrop for a cartoon picture about animals in the woods is a whole other matter. Though Westerberg’s cycle of songs here smacks of “writing for assignment” and the occasional overproduction wears thins in spots, it still shows the indelible marks of fuzzy guitar austerity and the hard-won wit central to the Twin Cities bar bard. “Love You in the Fall” is a perfectly stripped powerpop killer kin to much of Westerberg’s recent solo work, while the spare piano ballad “I Belong” is a pretty, wry downer. “Right to Arm Bears” is a short and sharp punk blockbuster with a flu-catchy hook, slashing rhythms and a chunky riffs. The sadsack beauty of “Whisper Me Luck” puts it right in line with songs like “Here Comes a Regular” and “Skyway.” In an interesting twist, Pete Yorn and Cake side project Deathray are also found on Open Season performing Westerberg’s compositions. Talking Head’s imitable “Once in a Lifetime” also figures.