Goldfinger sleep around -- and they're damn proud of it. Ever since the ska-punk quartet released their self-titled debut two years ago, they have crawled in bed with MGM, Buena Vista, Paramount and Universal Pictures, all for the arguable prestige of appearing on film soundtracks -- and for a handsome price. Now, Goldfinger are getting' busy with Touchstone Pictures and Adam Sandler, whose soundtrack for The Waterboy includes Goldfinger's skankified rendition of the late Sixties hit "More Today Than Yesterday."

"First, there was this kid's movie, Meet the Deedles, which I never saw," says Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann, recounting the band's whore-ish behavior. "I think it was about a couple of kids that do something. I heard it was gay. Then we did Dead Man on Campus, which I didn't see either. And then we did Baseketball, which I didn't see. But I did see Kingpin -- that movie was rad!"

The Waterboy soundtrack, released this week, marks Goldfinger's fifth film venture -- not including their contributions to the 1992 art-house classic, Pterodactyl Woman of Beverly Hills. "I think it went straight to video," says Feldmann, who was still selling women's shoes when Goldfinger pitched in with that first soundtrack song -- the apropos "Pictures." "I never heard of the movie since, but we got a few bucks for it."

Since then, the Santa Monica, Calif., quartet has released only two full-length albums -- 1996's Goldfinger and 1997's Hang-ups -- yet they have managed to loan out five soundtrack tunes, one ESPN "X Games" song and covers for the Misfits and Duran Duran tribute albums. All of this blissful sharing and cash-swapping seems to betray the gritty punk rock ethic of Goldfinger's forefathers like the Specials and Operation Ivy, yet Feldmann scoffs at the suggestion that Hollywood spells sell-out.

"If you are a true punk rocker and you are maximum rock & roll, and you only go to see bands that no one has ever heard of, you hate us anyway," he says. "They would have hated us five years ago when we were on MTV. And most of the sell-out criticisms come from kids who don't have to work, and who take out trash when their mothers ask them to. They live at home and they have to do what they are told. I don't. I have a choice. I can say, 'No, I don't want to do this movie' ... As far as I'm concerned, I don't feel like I'm sacrificing any of my worth for what I am doing.

"Movies help us survive on the road," Feldmann continues. "And Happy Gilmore [another Sandler film], I have probably seen that movie 200 times. Adam Sandler has helped us get through twenty-eight hour drives, and we are so happy to do this."

Happy and a little wealthier. "Soundtracks keep us afloat," Feldmann says. "When you are in a band, unless you sell a lot of records, you make most of your money off merchandise and touring. Now that we are in a downtime, doing these soundtracks has really kept us alive."

The ploy for more cash has already begun in Santa Monica, where Feldmann has written thirty-five bits and pieces of songs for the forthcoming Goldfinger album. He says he has fashioned the shrapnel into nine full tunes, including one "really cool sounding Rage Against the Machine-meets-the-Clash song." In January or February, Goldfinger will head into the studio -- most likely Hollywood's Sunset Sound -- to begin laying down tracks with Tim Palmer, who most recently co-produced the Reel Big Fish album Why Do They Rock So Hard?

It's doubtful that Palmer will forget to remind the band to record a few extra songs -- for you know what.

ANNI LAYNE
(November 6, 1998)