"Kill Your Idols" (film)

[swag]

Have a trailer, corndog.

Rotten Tomatoes says that the film squanders its short chance to be a definitive documentary of No Wave by wasting so much time on the post No Wave bands. I haven't seen the movie, but I will. I am already biased toward the Rotten Tomatoes position, but here are excerpts from the

Portland Mercury review.

IT WAS ABOUT making music that reminded you of nothing else," says Lydia Lunch in Kill Your Idols, a 70-minute documentary on the birth, death, and multiple reincarnations of no-wave music. The film begins in 1972 and microscopes on the New York scene, past to present.
. . .
"We weren't just trying to make music—we were trying to be monsters," adds Teenage Jesus and the Jerks bassist Jim Sclavunos. Accordingly, KYI kicks off with one of no-wave's most monstrous bands, Suicide. Juxtaposed against archival footage, we see an older, balder Marty Rev talking about glam rock and about how Suicide distanced itself from glam's blues-based sound, and cranked out evil, grinding electro noise, thus giving birth to no-wave.
. . .
After Rev and his peers, the film moves into the '80s. Cut down to its simplest themes, KYI is about generations and inspiration. It's structured into three parts: pioneers, those who were inspired by them (Sonic Youth, Swans), and those who were inspired by them (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Dice). But it isn't all "we're-in-this-together" vibes; the film ends on a dark note when all the old grizzly bears talk about the newest no-wavers. ("It feels mushy. There's nothing important that they're doing," says Lydia Lunch.) It gives the film a sad, uneasy tone, and shows just how insidiously counterproductive nostalgia can be. Still, KYI is better for the honesty. It doesn't try to paint no-wave as this great romantic thing. Instead, it rolls the tape and lets the music-makers say what they're going to say. What results is a documentary—a damn good one.

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Bitchin'. I'll add it to my "shit to check out" list.

[swag]

2. There's so much shit to check out lately.

I'm getting a little worried.

[anarch]

3. you know, it really kind of offends my sensibilities to have

the Yeah Yeah Yeahs listed immediately after Suicide on that cover. I have to agree with Lydia Lunch...all the newer shit just doesn't grab me so much. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they're trying to do, sort of, and I do like a couple songs here and there...feh, maybe I'm just getting old.

[swag]

4. I understand.

I don't think the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have anything to do with No Wave.

Just seems like Nick Zinner got the director's ear and things went wrong from there.

[Magrittes Pipe]

5. Too bad it's not more of a "Decline of Western Civilization" type thing.

I'd like to see it end with the first couple SY records.

You know, end the film with "Kill Yr Idols." That would make sense.

[swag]

6. I haven't seen the thing, but your concept sounds much better.

70 minutes for this thing and you have the Liars and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

[Magrittes Pipe]

7. Once SY and Lydia Lunch teamed up on "Death Valley '69"...

..."no wave" was dead.

It was a great song, but it was a conventional pop song. Noisy, but the structure was conventional.

It's not a bad thing. All movements die. But let's be honest with ourselves.