Minutemen | San Pedro | D. Boon | Mike Watt | California
Dl Small Screen
by
American Way StaffAmong the myriad music documentaries that have
emerged in the past few years, none is as welcome or affecting
as this film about San Pedro, California, proletariat punks the
Minutemen. Director Tim Irwin and producer Keith Schieron have
managed to capture the everyman essence that propelled late
guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley
from their humble blue-collar beginnings ("we're just dudes from
Pedro") to becoming arguably the most respected and creatively
ambitious band to emerge from the '80s American indie
underground (a period documented thoroughly in Michael Azerrad's
2001 book,
Our Band Could Be Your
Life - the title of which comes from a
Minutemen lyric). Built around Watt's and Hurley's narrative, as
well as on archival band footage and new interviews with fans,
friends, and fellow musicians (including Richard Hell, Sonic
Youth's Thurston Moore, and Black Flag's Henry Rollins), the
film charts an incredible run of albums and live performances
that the band produced during its all-too-brief five-year
career. At its core, the Minutemen tale is a kind of love story,
a Damon and Pythias friendship forged between Watt and Boon, who
met as teenagers and used music as a means to both celebrate and
transcend their bleak working-class environs until it all ended
suddenly and tragically with Boon's death in a 1985 auto
accident. This two-disc set is loaded with a variety of bonus
material, including deleted scenes and promo videos. But
particularly welcome is a trio of complete live shows, including
the band's notorious 1980 gig at L.A.'s Starwood club. Truly
essential viewing. -
B.B.
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