I just can't let it go...

Alright, I had no plan on posting anything else before Monday, but I can't sit on this for a full weekend otherwise I'll just keep gritting my teeth and yelling at my computer...

I just finished watching another Rock-Doc, this one made in 2004 and entitled Kill Your Idols. First off, the film is scattered, aimless, and comes to no ultimate conclusion whatsoever. I can live with that, since it's kind of the same idea as the music they're profiling.

The focal point of the film starts with the early New York pre-punk movement of 1970/1971, specifically focusing on Suicide. Suicide was featured in the first five minutes or so of the film. I liked the sound, sort of reminiscent of The Stooges, or Television a little later on, which is cool. Seems like a band I'll look up and enjoy. That's just great!

Then, shit gets sour, they burn through 8 years of great influential music that changed the world, regardless what the opinions of the soon-to-be-featured artists are, and all of a sudden it's 1979. That's fine I guess. I'm cool with ignoring punk rock if that's not what you want to focus on... I'm over it...

So here we are in 1979, and who are we focusing on? Former groupie turned human noise machine Lydia Lunch... I've got a few Lydia Lunch tracks in my collection, specifically her version of Gloomy Sunday off the Blair Witch soundtrack album, and a track of her reading Jack Kerouac's Bowery Blues. The fact she was involved in the Kerouac project, in my opinion, gave her a pass for having no real talent and being ridiculously self important... I can forgive pretty much anything somebody does so long as they dig Kerouac... Unfortunately, this film could not have changed my opinion more...

Lydia Lunch, in addition to pretty much everybody else who felt making feedback noises and lurching into a microphone was 'new music' needs to give it a rest... I'm totally cool with their idea of 'pushing the envelope', doing something totally different, and bucking convention to be themselves. The fact of the matter is though, if you put yourself in a movie, and spend 90 minutes shitting all over every single artist who ISN'T YOU, you've lost all credibility in my book.

There are some exceptions from the 'no wave' bands. The segments with Arto Lindsay of DNA for example, show a performer who was fully aware of who he was, and where he fits in. In some ways, it was pretty easy to see that he wasn't sure why this film was even being made, and I've got to tell you, I'm right there with him. Why does this flick exist? Let's run down the 'plot points'

• 1971- Suicide starts performing live shows in New York, sounding pretty much like The Stooges before them, but different enough that they're tapped as the beginning of this movement of non-conformism
• 1979 through 1982- A bunch of people with roughly the same musical talent as say, ME, decide they're tired of more talented, more able people getting all the on stage gig time and start pawing at guitars like wild animals and howling into mics. Like I said, I'm cool if that's who you want to be, but I don't buy that it's in any way 'important' and the makers of this film didn't do a very good part of selling that point.
• Mid 80's to Early 90's- This is when we're led to believe Sonic Youth is the embodiment of everything that is great and holy. Personally, I think Thurston Moore is an engaging personality, and if you're a music obsessive like myself, you should totally read the book Mix Tape in which he's a featured artist discussing the influence of music on his life. He really seems like a cool guy. That being said, IMO, his music is for shit. The only Sonic Youth I can get any kind of enjoyment out of are the Kim Gordon sung tracks, and only if I manage to distract myself from the music behind the vocals.To Moore's credit, as well as fellow Youther Lee Ranaldo, they did not come off as nearly as self important as the film maker tried to make them. I'm pretty sure they are the only artist featured that the director had actually heard of before. At this time, we're also introduced to The Swans, and I'm sure some other bands that I managed to already block out... Oh thank God, the blogging is helping...
• 2002- All of a sudden it's 2002, and we're introduced to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Personally, I've always associated them more with The Pretenders than Sonic Youth, but what the hell do I know, I'm not the one sticking a camera in their faces... The YYY's and Gogol Bordello are really the only redeeming quality about the modern section of this film, which is the lion's share of the running time. All the other performers featured during these segments seem way more interested in getting drunk, getting laid, and being 'different' than they do about making music. Much like the 'no wave' crowd, if that's what they're looking for, more power to them... Just a quick FYI though kids... Your NOT important, and I don't mean that in the bitter and elitist way that Lydia Lunch says you're not important, I mean it in the same way that I mean SHE'S not important... There are kids out their with instruments, and voices, and actual songs to sing, stop taking a dump on their stages and get the hell out of the way, or at least stop pretending any of your crap matters.

Just one last point I NEED to make before I can consider this a fully cathartic cleansing of my anger. There is nothing charming, elegant, necessary, entertaining, informative, or even remotely useful about listening to a bunch of aged former musicians complain about how 'today's generation just doesn't get it.' You know what? NEITHER DO YOU! Your time is passed and no one listened. Time to go away now... OK? Bye bye...

Ultimately, I can't blame the No Wave artists for being callous and bitter about their stations in life, the blame rests squarely on film maker Scott Crary who obviously decided to make a film about a subject he knew little about, cared less about, and discovered mid way through apparently wasn't the story he wanted to tell... Also, a message for the jag-offs who are A.R.E. Weapons... It's 4 years since the release of this flick, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have put out multiple nation wide hits and made a crapload of money... I hope you're still getting groupie tail in your Brooklyn hell-hole dives...

Oh, and Lydia, I just listened to your reading of Bowery Blues again, and you're off the hook... I can't stay mad at you...