Look out Hollywood, here comes Sloan.
The Canadian rock group will be getting a taste of Tinseltown with the release of the hotly hyped new film "The Virgin Suicides," which will feature no fewer than five Sloan songs.
The film, the directorial debut of Sofia Coppola (daughter of "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola), is scheduled to play the Sundance Film Festival in January. When it does, audiences will hear Sloan's "On The Horizon," "Everything You've Done Wrong," "The Good In Everyone," "The Lines You Amend" and "Can't Face Up" in the film's score -- all previously released tracks.
Coppola, who recently married video director Spike Jonze, shot the film in Toronto with stars Danny DeVito, Kirsten Dunst, Kathleen Turner, James Woods and Scott Glenn. It reportedly tells the story of a group of suburban men in the '70s obsessed with five sisters.
"I haven't seen it, but I heard some of the characters are humming along or singing some of the songs," Sloan's road manager Mike Nelson told JAM! from Toronto Thursday as the group packed for a lengthy American tour.
So how did Sloan get hooked up with the movie?
"It's kind of odd how things came about," says Nelson.
"When we were in L.A. in the spring to play our show, we were out having a few drinks with one of the guys from the band Air, and he was talking about this soundtrack. And then Sofia Coppola came out to see the show. And (Sloan) basically said she could use whatever she wanted."
One of those songs, "Everything You've Done Wrong," will be featured on the actual soundtrack (due in March from Emperor Norton Records), alongside tracks by Al Green, Air, Todd Rundgren, Heart, Styx and The Hollies.
"It was more one of those things where it can't hurt either person to work together," Nelson said.
Meanwhile, the group's new video compilation, "Second Hand Views," will be available by mail order through the band's website and at shows in VHS format only, and should arrive in stores just before Christmas.
"Mostly, every time we go out in the States, nobody has ever seen the videos, so there is quite a demand there, and of course, all our Canadian fans want it," he said.
If the movie and home video aren't enough to satisfy Sloan fans' demand for visual stimulation, the group plans to post video footage taken from their ongoing tour at the website.
Nelson has been shooting the shows on digital video from the soundboard, while bassist Chris Murphy has been wielding the camera backstage "on the chance he'll catch something embarrassing," Nelson said.
Fans can expect to see some clips from Australia and the U.S. west coast tour soon, with stuff from San Francisco and Seattle possibly to follow.
"We just got back from Sydney (Australia) and it was amazing. They played this old dance hall and it was amazing, everyone singing along. It's great to be able to go that far and get that kind of response," he said.
Canadian Sloan fans should brace themselves for a cross-country Sloan jaunt near the end of March.
Here's the soundtrack listing for "The Virgin Suicides."
"Hello It's Me" (Todd Rundgren),
"I'm Not In Love" (10cc),
"Magic Man" (Heart),
"The Air That I Breathe" (The Hollies),
"Ce Matin La" (Air),
"Alone Again (Naturally)" (Gilbert O'Sullivan),
"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?" (Al Green),
"Everything You've Done Wrong" (Sloan),
"Come Sail Away" (Styx),
"A Dream Goes On Forever" (Todd Rundgren),
"Crazy On You" (Heart),
"Playground Love (main theme)" (Air).
