Original subtitles

We've never been weak, cosmetically at all. The industrial

scale is clinging to a teardrop full

of dirt between my thighs.

But we don't cry,

we'll not demand.

One needs a vote,

she is bent, but she does.

Time to head home. Come on. Let's go.

Do you have a permit?

Can I help you, officer?

This place is clean. There's no alcohol here. No drugs.

We don't have a permit on this place.

Well, our application was approved and we just haven't received the papers yet.

Sorry.

No permit.

No music.

In 1564, Nostradamus predicted the destruction of Earth in three terrifying

waves. The first wave is here.

My name is Cade Foster.

These are my journals.

They killed my wife, framed me for murder.

Now I run, but I don't hide.

With the prophecies of Nostradamus as my guide, I seek them.

I hunt them.

I will stop the first wave.

Quatrain 30, century 4, where chariots of iron are forged. Sweet youth cries

revolt over a bitter melody.

Nostradamus may have been talking about Detroit, the Motor City, where a mob of

teenagers made headlines when they assaulted two police officers at an

underground club.

Both cops are in critical condition.

Parents blame a local band called Sonic War for inciting the violence.

But if Nostradamus is right with his prediction of alien involvement...

This may be about more than rock and roll.

Guess it's time to face the music.

Oh, I saw it. You guys are Sonic War, right?

I heard you hang out here.

No,

we don't support violence.

Yes, we do feel bad about the cops that got trashed. And no, I don't believe

that rock music is behind the moral decline of American youth.

Well, I'm not a reporter.

Kenny Gaines.

I'm the A&R executive with Intruder Records.

I want to talk to you about your music.

Uh, yeah. Sorry, dude. We're a little busy, okay?

Hey, man.

Intruder's a major label. A major label? No soul, all right?

Trying to cash in on our infamy? I don't remember making you any contract offers.

I just want to hear your music.

Oh. Oh, now you want to hear our music.

Where were you in the beginning when we were first starting out, huh?

Where were you when we were playing the Pony Lounge in front of three people?

Well, maybe I was arranging the Guns N' Roses comeback tour.

I found them at the Whiskey in L.A.

Or maybe it was Jane's addiction.

Signed them back in 93.

No joke.

You should talk to Kat.

She makes the calls.

Actually, you know what? You can call our manager Preston. Billy, it's Kat's

band. Don't forget it. Where can I find either of them?

At our recording studio, 1212 Hammond Street.

Thanks, fellas.

Man, Preston said they'd be crawling out of the woodwork.

We hit the big time, my brother.

Yeah.

No,

stop.

It is feeling so one-dimensional. It's all cynicism and rage.

Why don't you try bringing on some strings or Mellotron? Just rise it to a

crescendo. We need to keep it low and mean, honey. It's what they like. But I

don't think... that it's right. Kat, I know what I'm talking about.

Take five and regroup. We'll try again.

You have a minute.

Intruder Records.

Big label.

I'm Preston Barry. I'm Sonic Wars manager.

It's nice to meet you.

That's quite a talent you have there.

A star.

Look at her. What a visual.

Real easy on the eyes.

Looks like inciting a little mayhem is her specialty.

Is she what made the kids go off last week?

Well, things like that happen in this crazy business all the time. I mean, you

can't explain them. The kids are wild these days.

You worried about the bad publicity?

No publicity is bad publicity.

I'd like to explore a fit with Sonic War and Intruder.

You have a demo tape?

I don't give out the band's music.

You sure about that?

I'm authorized to sign new artists.

Look.

I turned Sonic War into an overnight sensation with the alternative crowd

here. They sign with a major label now. They are branded total sellouts.

What, we have smaller labels? We could take them out slow?

No. We're going to form our own label with our own investors.

This band's not interested in corporate rock and roll.

How'd you meet Kat?

At a roadside diner in Lansing.

She is one of the most driven artists I've ever seen.

Started playing bars and juke joints when she was 15.

Slept in the back of a VW van for the last five years.

Impressive.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

Hey, what are you freaks doing?

Hey, what's up, bitch?

Nothing but that perm, Goldilocks. Look at you. What's with the ghillie ghillie,

man? Yo, yo, yo. Never mess with a man's apparel, man. Gotta keep the dome warm

at all times.

Hey, you guys see the new flyers yet? What?

Sonic War.

What? What?

Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Yeah. Check it out. Check it out.

Check it out. There you go. There you go. I thought the sea got crash and

burn, man. No way, man. Warehouse party tonight.

Hey, you guys know what else I got?

Sonic War bootleg tape.

Oh, you dog. How'd you get that?

Hey, man, the Gilligan lid ain't sharp, but it's roomy, baby.

Oh, man. Come on. Let me get a listen, man. Oh, man. Hey, Smitey, back off.

Huh?

Hey, man, there she is.

There's Kat.

How many times am I going to tell you to poke the clear out of here?

Just a copy, please.

Kat, you got a minute?

Saw you at the recording studio.

You one of Preston's boys?

Not exactly. He didn't tell you who I was?

Uh-uh.

Thanks. My name's Kenny Gaines. I'm with Intruder Records, A&R.

I'm interested in Sonic War.

I wanted to ask you a few questions about the band.

Fire away.

Well, how'd you start?

Like everyone else, with a six-string and a dream.

Jeremy and I have been friends since we were kids.

Billy signed a couple years ago.

And where'd you grow up?

Northern Michigan.

Grew up in a trailer park.

Preston said you started the bar circuit early.

Yeah.

He rescued me from the truck stop circuit.

And where's he from? I don't think I've ever heard of him before.

Really? Oh.

He's DJ'd all over the world.

He ran the fridge in London for three years.

He had synth tracks to our live shows. It's pretty wild.

I heard it got real wild last weekend.

Yeah, I don't want to talk about that if you don't mind.

It's okay.

Preston also said you weren't interested in signing with a major label.

He said what?

I asked him for a demo tape, but he's been pretty tight-fisted about the whole

deal.

We have a show tonight at the warehouse.

I could put your name on the list. You can hear us live.

Thanks. I'd appreciate that.

What are you doing?

I'll definitely be there.

Why'd that kid go berserk?

How the hell should I know? Because you were standing right there.

Who are you anyway?

Detective Myers.

Vice. Now, you're going to give me some answers or I'm going to haul you

downtown as the material lands.

I had nothing to do with it, man.

Your choice, here or downtown.

That kid was wearing headphones.

Was he listening to Sonic War?

Yeah. So what?

You think that's what made him go berserk?

I don't know.

Well, I think you do, dude.

Their music is freaky.

Define freaky.

It's like a rush. It makes you want to tear someone's head off.

Back off!

Why didn't you tell me an A&R guy was here?

You were recording.

What about afterward?

You didn't see fit to mention that intruder is interested in the band?

Throw a stick in the coffee house, you'll hit half a dozen hacks like Kenny

Gaines. They're corporate shills.

I have busted my ass for this opportunity, Preston, and I don't

appreciate you withholding information.

When a conglomerate takes over your sound, it isn't your sound anymore.

Remember that, babe.

I want a record deal, Preston. That's why I signed with you.

Beastie Boys took the first step with their own label.

We'll do them one better.

Create our own label and distribution network. Not to mention, we'll have

control of our music. Our music?

This is my band, Preston. And I don't like the way you're trying to control

what we play.

You've taken the pain of your upbringing and captured that pain in the music.

The kids respond with anger just like you did when you wrote the words.

That is only one side of who I am. I want to show them the other side.

Angry chicks sell tickets.

I am not about selling.

Why are you freaking on me?

That A&R guy is the one who will bubble gum your music and turn it to crap.

He represents everything you hate, Kat.

And you just watch him try to turn you against me.

Now I'm on your side.

He's the enemy.

Sorry, Preston.

I guess I'm distressed.

It's okay.

You relax.

Go have some coffee.

Decaf.

Intruder records.

May I speak with Mr. Gaines, please?

I'll connect you to his secretary.

Mr. Gaines's office.

So long, sucker.

Hello, Foster?

Yeah. Preston did a little check-up. I used a voice modulator to throw him off

track. I figured he would.

Think he's an alien?

Could be.

Maybe he's just a concerned manager.

It's a perfect alien front.

Rock music steals the minds of innocent youth.

It's a cliche that dates back to Elvis.

That warehouse is a pretty big drug scene, Eddie.

That could account for the violence.

I don't think there's room for interpretation, Foster.

The quatrain clearly refers to a bitter melody.

Sonic War plays rage rock.

I'd say we got ourselves an alien van.

I don't think so.

Why not?

Just an instinct, I guess.

What's it like, Foster? Everywhere you go, never really sure if the person

you're rapping with actually has festering tentacles beneath their skin.

I'm learning to deal with it.

I'm working on a couple of angles to get you a tape to analyze.

We'll take it from there.

Kenny Gaines, Cat Keith put me on the list.

Yeah, he's cool.

Thanks.

What's this all about?

The only way the cops would let us operate this weekend.

You can pick this up after the show.

No tape recorders. Too many people trying to bootleg Sonic War.

Hey, look, it's the record dude.

It does?

You came.

Well, I wouldn't miss it.

We'll enjoy the show.

Maybe we can get together after the show.

I doubt it.

What's wrong, Kat?

We're not interested in Intruder.

Why is that?

Preston's right.

I'm not going to sell out to a big conglomerate.

Well, I don't think that Preston is looking out for your best interests.

That's exactly what he said you'd say.

Kat, come on. Let's go.

Excuse me.

you out there who want to know what sonic war is really all about this

song's for you

Don't be mixed up in the sky.

Don't be discovered when I'm six feet under the

ground. When they lay my body down.

They can pop the pieces of the carpet past, and there's a funny nose in the-

on the

sorry i thought you were someone else sorry

Drove them wild tonight, huh?

Yeah, wild.

What's wrong, Jeremy?

Something about the way the crowd chased that A&R guy.

It serves him right, man.

We drove those kids insane.

They were disconnected from the music. I could feel it. You guys were the bomb.

That's what I like to see.

Well, we were just giving our all for you, babe.

Kat, you were rocking.

Thanks. Oh, except that first song.

It was a bit lo-fi. Not really the sound we're going for, right?

Yeah.

Whatever you say, Preston. Remember, angry chicks sell tickets.

Yes.

What a clown.

Oh, man, it's just his way, all right?

You're sticking up for him.

No, but, you know, you gotta hand Preston one thing. He knows what the

fans want, right?

He doesn't know us.

We're not headbangers. We need to mix it up.

Like the stuff he used to write, Kat.

Oh, man.

What?

What?

Okay, don't get me wrong, guys. You know, that song we open up with is very

special. You know, it's a very white album, but come on.

No.

What are you trying to say, Billy?

Okay, what am I trying to say? Well, I'm saying let's stick with what got us

here, you know?

Music that says let's fight the system.

Those kids were going crazy in the pit tonight.

Yeah, it's called blowing off the weak, you know, having a little fun.

Maybe we should try it sometime.

I say we dump Preston.

He's not right for us.

Hold on.

Tomorrow night's the last show we got to play in here, right?

Then we go on and we record our demo.

Then we go on tour.

Come on, we should be celebrating here, guys.

You've always wanted notoriety for your music, not for what goes on offstage.

Preston's right.

He's our manager.

We do what he says.

Thank you.

Cat.

Had time to study the music yet?

Got a random tape through every chest I could think of.

Analyzing harmonics, rhythm patterns, latent frequencies.

Even played the music backward.

What'd you get? A headache.

Didn't notice something strange, though.

Demo tapes are mixed from an even number of input tracks, usually eight.

This song had nine different layers to it.

Cat said that Preston was a mix master, and he adds grooves to the live set.

Well, that could explain it.

If the music drives people wild, how come you didn't go psycho?

It didn't affect me or you or Preston.

It affects kids, Eddie. Pumps them up like they're on steroids.

I got an idea.

One question, though.

If the music works on youth, how come it didn't affect the band members?

I don't know.

Maybe they were wearing earplugs.

Get on the Internet, Eddie. See if you can find out if a teenager's body

produces any hormones that could cause rage. I'm way ahead of you.

During adolescence, the human body has a biological imperative to reach

maturation, so it produces larger amounts of androgen, male sex hormones.

Maybe the aliens have figured out a way to stimulate the androgen levels in

these kids.

But how?

I don't know.

But I think it's something buried in the music.

I'll call you when I know more.

That was beautiful.

I wrote it last week in a strip club. I guess our worst place is for

inspiration.

Kat, we need to talk.

Yeah.

Some of the kids are saying you're a cop.

So which is it, cop or A&R man?

I'm neither.

I came here to investigate why your music is making kids go berserk.

You with Rolling Stone or something?

This is going to sound crazy, but I think that somebody is tampering with

your music to make your fans violent.

Who's tampering?

My guess is Preston.

You're joking, right?

I'm afraid not.

Do you ever think that maybe my music has power?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure your music does.

But I saw a kid listening to one of your songs on headphones.

And he went berserk. Now, I think you know what I'm talking about. Listen to

me, Kat. Please.

Please?

Please what?

What do you want from me?

I want you to help me.

I want you to help make sure that nobody else gets hurt because of your music.

I don't know who you are or what your game is, but you stay the hell away from

me.

It's okay.

Hey,

fellas.

Man, you are getting really tiresome, you know that?

I need your help.

If you care anything about Kat, you listen.

Look, man, we just came in to get a cup of coffee. No, I want to hear what it's

about.

During your show last night, something in your music made those kids turn

against me.

They would have killed me.

All right, here we go again, you know, blame it on rock and roll. The

persecution never ends.

Jeremy knows there's something wrong, don't you?

Billy, I told you.

I've never seen kids react the way they do at our shows.

When did all this start?

When Preston hooked up with Kat.

Started steering her toward a harder and harder sound.

He give you guys any new equipment?

Amplifiers, anything?

No, he didn't give us anything.

Except Kat's guitar.

Yeah, the night she met him, he gave Kat that Strat as a gift.

Said it would change her career.

Yeah, okay, and it did.

So, you know, what are you trying to prove with all this?

I'm not sure, but I'll let you know when I do.

Okay.

Hi.

Hi. Got the two preams for the Sonic War Studio session?

I wasn't aware there was a session today.

Preston asked me to set them up.

Oh, go ahead.

Thanks.

We'll record the live demo tonight on eight tracks, a live master.

I'll send it to you in New York, and then it's your responsibility to release

it for small station airplay.

Well, with the way we've infiltrated the radio stations, we're not going to have

any problems.

What are you doing?

Billy, what's happening?

Who was that?

That's what I'd like to find out.

We've been made.

It's that A&R executive guy. He knows something's up.

Relax, Billy. What happened?

He broke into the studio. He was rummaging through all of our gear.

Well, there's lots of shady players in this business.

Could be he was trying to cop a demo tape. He's hot to sign you guys. No,

Preston, I'm telling you, this guy is no record executive, okay?

He's less interested in our music than the effect it has on people. I called

his label, did a check on him.

Yeah, well, maybe you should check a little harder.

Oh, and by the way, did I tell you that he's got Jeremy convinced that we should

dump you as our manager?

Yeah.

I say we cancel the show and we call the Guas family to find out what our next

move is. No.

Everything's set for tonight.

Preston, I've worked way too hard to get tight with this band. It could take

years if we have to start over again. Nobody's starting over.

All we gotta do is keep Kenny Gaines out of the warehouse tonight.

I'll notify security at the door.

You just keep the band in line.

Read the quatrain.

Where iron chariots are forged.

Sweet youth cries revolt over a bitter melody.

A poisoned song taints mind and soul spread by air across the land.

Spread by air.

Infectious diseases are spread through the air. No, Eddie, airwaves. That's how

Preston was talking about.

They're going to release a demo tape to radio stations.

Kids will run wild through the streets.

I gotta stop them from recording tonight.

Boss, you can't go back to the warehouse.

The drummer knows you're onto them.

I got no choice.

What do you want, Preston?

I understand there's some creative differences among the band members.

Big surprise.

Kat,

let's patch this thing up now.

I don't want to do the Quincy Jones visionary producer thing. I'm a

collaborator.

We can find middle ground.

What middle ground?

You don't want me to play my music.

I know what sells, Kat, and I know how to sell it.

They don't respond the same way to the softer stuff. It doesn't speak to their

anger.

Jeremy thinks we should dump you.

Well, Jeremy clearly doesn't understand the terms of the contract you signed.

Because if you dump me, I could keep you tied up in court so long your songs

would become gold and all these.

Let's not talk about things that aren't going to happen, though.

When you sign with me, I promised you the fast track to the big time.

Enjoy the track, because you're sure as hell on it, Kat.

Every one of your dreams is coming true.

It's cold.

All

the

work.

It pays off right here.

We'll cut a demo off tonight's set.

And I will personally hand to the top media markets across the country.

Now, I know it's been hard for all of you.

And we haven't always seen eye to eye.

But this is it tonight.

Make it rock.

You can't play that guitar tonight.

It's you, my first stalker. Listen to me. Whatever you think of me, put it

aside.

That guitar is a lethal weapon.

I think it puts out some kind of signal that turns your fans against those cops.

You're nuts.

Billy's involved in it, too.

I gotta get on stage. Hey.

I saw the way those fans reacted to your music.

Yours, not Preston's.

Remember that when you're up there tonight.

That's all.

I'm saying

It's not the guitar.

I checked the neighborhood warehouse.

Looks like Billy slipped away.

So you're saying Billy infiltrated our band?

Yeah, he was working for Preston.

And Preston's gift to me, my guitar?

Just a guitar.

How do you know that?

I mean, you're saying that they're aliens.

Maybe the guitar did have a power.

My playing was never better.

Well, back in Chicago, I used to own a two-disc box set of Robert Johnson.

Rumor had it that he sold his soul to the devil for the ability to play a

blues guitar.

When he died, someone noticed that he had these real long fingers.

It might have had something to do with those outrageous chords he could play.

What are you saying?

No one can give you a gift that you already own.

Take care of yourself, Kat.

Yeah, you too.

In a way, Kat also received her guitar from the devil.

The aliens dangled the carrot she couldn't resist.

The lure of success.

But Kat learned there are no shortcuts to success.

It's a long journey, paved with hardship.

I'll remember her lesson as I walk the road ahead.