It raw. It’s very rough. The live footage is ragged and that’s about the best compliment you can pay it. And truthfully, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
There just aren’t too many video documents of the underground punk scene in LA in the early ‘80’s, and as such this “history lesson” is nearly indispensable. With live footage and interviews from members of The Meat Puppets, Redd Kross, The Minutemen, and Twisted Roots, we get a celebratory cross-section of the underground scene in all it’s grimy, gritty, unwashed glory.
Again, from a musical standpoint, don’t go expecting surround 5.1 dolby here. The footage is ample and exciting, but it’s rough. Shot on low-budget gear with a no-budget production, expect feedback, distortion, fuzz, and all around noise. Now, none of that is to say that its not what the bands actually sounded like at the time. But on your DVD player and killer surround, just be prepared.
Still, the live footage is exciting and captures the energy of the bands, the passion they brought to their music, the pure punk spirit. A special nod has to go to the live footage of the Minutemen and the much-missed D Boon, standing larger than life as he presides over his chaotic guitar parts and sputtered vocals. This footage alone makes the set priceless.
With the sound quality being so rough, the real gems here are the interviews, learning how D Boon would randomly place scattered lyrical notes around the apartment for his bandmates to find and turn into songs, learning how the bands interacted, loved each other or hated each other, banded to be a part of the SST scene or shunned it. Anyone who was a part of the scene, or remembers it, or is just curious will learn lots here.
I was lucky enough to be a radio DJ in Los Angeles back in the day and remember this stuff coming into the station straight off the street. There was a palpable buzz when ever the new Minutemen record came in. I dug on Redd Kross and the rest of the Enigma stuff. The Meat Puppets blew minds. Bands like that just didn't come around everyday.
No matter how you look at it, it was a vibrant and exciting scene that gave rise to some majorly revered legends who’ve contined to inspire bands today.
--Racer
buy here: History Lesson Part 1: Punk Rock In Los Angeles In 1984
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