Rockin' out... on the couch

I recently saw the movie "The Rocker" and must say that I was quite surprised. Yeah, it's a typical garage-band-makes-it-big kind of story, but look past that and the occasional comic genius of Rainn Wilson and you'll find some pretty slammin music.

During the opening credits I noticed a nice bit of credence being paid to the composer of the original music and score, Chad Fischer. After watching the movie, I utilized the magnificent power of the internet to find Chad's MySpace page. There I learned that Mr. Fischer is no newbie to the land of Hollywood and the business of composing for T.V. and film. He penned (and sang) the theme for the T.V. show "Scrubs," as well as doing the score for the Zack Braff film, "Garden State."

The pop tunes Fischer wrote for the singer-character in the movie (played and sang by an actual singer/songwriter, Teddy Geiger) are what I'd call "that good pop" (a term coined by a good friend of mine). Pop can be pretty bland and void (i.e. Hannah-Miley-Montana-Cyrus), but it can also have some substance and push the genre towards something meaningful. While this isn't completely rare (there are lots of artists/bands making "that good pop"), what's refreshing about it is that it was written by a guy on his couch at home -- a guy who makes a living writing music for T.V. and film.

There is definitely some applause for Chad Fischer needed here, because a lot of writers in his situation would simply write carbon-copies of whatever "the kids" are listening to these days, and completely skip over the chance to write something of value. Chad's lyrics are poignant to the character and to the story without being cheesy or lame, and the songs actually go somewhere, instead of just going through the motions. Are the songs going to save the world? Probably not. Is everyone going to agree with me and totally dig the songs? Nope (in fact, AMG's review is pretty harsh). But it is a redeeming breath of fresh air in a business driven more by the dollar than by quality.

I might be standing totally by myself on this one, but I'm applauding you, Chad Fischer. Rock on... on your couch.