Book Review
Aug. 8th, 2019 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariOur Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991
by Michael Azerrad
As the title indicates, Azerrad covers American indie and underground rock from the 80s into the 90s. He traces its history and development through the stories of 13 bands that were significant or influential, regardless of how well-known or popular they were or became. These bands include Black Flag, Minor Threat, Husker Du, The Replacements, Big Black, the Butthole Surfers, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Fugazi, and others. Most of Azerrad's material comes from primary sources - interviews, reviews, and articles from zines and other publications, plus his own conversations with band members and others associated with the underground and indie scene. He deftly weaves together and connects band histories with the stories of the labels and local scenes that gave birth to and sustained the bands.
These bands were pretty much the playlist for my high school and college years, so reading Our Band Could Be Your Life was a lot of fun, and very illuminating. Back then, it was very easy to be a big fan of a band and its music without knowing much of anything about them so this book filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the music I loved, and still love, so much. And all of their stories were fascinating and enhanced my appreciation for their music*.
I also went back and listened to the bands while reading their respective chapters*. I had not listened to some of it in quite a while, so this was an incredibly enjoyable part of the reading experience for me. Fugazi's Repeater remains one of the best punk albums ever, Sonic Youth's early work is amazingly luminous and original, Dinosaur Jr still resonates, and I realized I knew a lot more Husker Du songs than I thought.
*With the exception of the Butthole Surfers. They and their conduct were so repulsive that I lost all desire to ever hear any of their material again.
by Michael Azerrad
As the title indicates, Azerrad covers American indie and underground rock from the 80s into the 90s. He traces its history and development through the stories of 13 bands that were significant or influential, regardless of how well-known or popular they were or became. These bands include Black Flag, Minor Threat, Husker Du, The Replacements, Big Black, the Butthole Surfers, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Fugazi, and others. Most of Azerrad's material comes from primary sources - interviews, reviews, and articles from zines and other publications, plus his own conversations with band members and others associated with the underground and indie scene. He deftly weaves together and connects band histories with the stories of the labels and local scenes that gave birth to and sustained the bands.
These bands were pretty much the playlist for my high school and college years, so reading Our Band Could Be Your Life was a lot of fun, and very illuminating. Back then, it was very easy to be a big fan of a band and its music without knowing much of anything about them so this book filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the music I loved, and still love, so much. And all of their stories were fascinating and enhanced my appreciation for their music*.
I also went back and listened to the bands while reading their respective chapters*. I had not listened to some of it in quite a while, so this was an incredibly enjoyable part of the reading experience for me. Fugazi's Repeater remains one of the best punk albums ever, Sonic Youth's early work is amazingly luminous and original, Dinosaur Jr still resonates, and I realized I knew a lot more Husker Du songs than I thought.
*With the exception of the Butthole Surfers. They and their conduct were so repulsive that I lost all desire to ever hear any of their material again.
