Local Connection to Adventureland Soundtrack

CFG in their youthful, trombone-playing glory

Adventureland, which our critic Scott Foundas likes a lot, features two songs by Civilian Fun Group. What, you haven't heard of them? You must not be up on your early 80s Ann Arbor rock bands whose members settled in Seattle. Says Civilian Fun Group guitarist Jake London, now a Seattle songwriter and entertainment and business lawyer, "Our drummer's wife edited the film. That's how we ended up in there." The other band alumni in the area are John Shaw, who works for the Columbia City non-profit Homesite, and Lawrence Kent, an agricultural development specialist for the Gates Foundation.

Being part of a Hollywood production has not exactly been an ascension into a realm of glamour. Jake saw the movie not at the LA premiere, but in Factoria. "To be honest, I couldn't hear (the songs). But when the music credits rolled at the end, there we were. So I'm assuming they were buried somewhere in there."

You can hear the two songs in the film, "Pleasure Dog" and "West Beirut," on the band's MySpace page. Jake, who until a few years ago hosted Songwriter's night at the Sunset with John Ramberg (Model Rockets, Tripwires, Minus 5), also has his own MySpace page.