Photography/Simon Weller

Here's the sweet and lowdown on that Deathray-Paul Westerberg connection we
told you about Wednesday.

Seems Deathray got the hook-up after a well-placed friend put a copy of the local (and currently unsigned) pop band's "Believe Me" record in the hands of a Sony Pictures music supervisor. Long story short, the guy liked it so much, he asked Deathray to cover a new Westerberg track for the upcoming animated flick "Open Season."

Deathray recorded the song at lead singer Dana Gumbiner's home studio, sent it back to L.A. and then got word that the studio liked the track well enough to include it on the film's soundtrack.

The overall experience, Gumbiner says, was "intense."

"It was crazy work, (with) deadlines and a lot of back and forth as the filmmakers were very particular and detail-oriented," Gumbiner wrote in a recent e-mail. "Plus, there were multiple directors working on the movie so the communication was challenging. But overall, it was totally fun and the people involved were so much easier to work with than anyone we've ever dealt with in the 'music industry.' "

The best part, Gumbiner adds, will come when he gets to take his 7-year-old son, Jack, to the September premiere in Hollywood. "He's excited because I've told him he'll be one of the first kids to see it."

And, as a fan of the Replacements, Gumbiner's excited, too.

"(Westerberg's) new stuff in the movie is really cool and
inspired; a few songs sound like they could be off of (the Replacements') "Let It Be" - they're very raw and unpolished," he says. "I just hope Paul Westerberg likes our cover."