A review of Our Band Could Be Your Life Scenes from the American Indie
Underground 1981-1991
by Michael Azerrad
Picking up where "England's Dreaming" left off, this book
profiles the independent underground bands of the 80s.
Reviewed by: Michelle Miller Detwiler
About Michelle Miller Detwiler
If punk was the definitive end to the "love generation," the music that
sprang from it was the antithesis of the "greed is good" '80s'. In "Our Band
Could Be Your Life," by music writer Michael Azerrad, is a snapshot at some
of the bands which did not follow the rules of what major record labels were
looking for at the time. Instead, they had to turn to their own resources,
starting their own and recording for small independent labels, yet for the
majority of the bands Azerrad interviewed, still continue to maintain cult
followings and are some of the most well-respected bands in the music
industry.
Beginning with Black Flag, the first band to really rise from the ashes of
punk rock to spearhead the hard-core movement, Azerrad gets the straight
scoop from the band members themselves. From the tragic demise of the
Minutemen's D. Boon to the beginnings of the straight-edge movement by Minor
Threat, which continued on in a more subtle way with Fugazi, as well as the
unlikely pairings and clamorous, yet emotional, music of Hüsker Dü, the
frustrating struggles of the independent band is detailed no-holds barred.
These bands existed at a time before major labels bought indies, before Sub
Pop was "home to Nirvana," and when wearing an SST or Dischord T-shirt meant
you were a "freak." The Do-It-Yourself aesthetic of these bands earned them
little money, but tons of respect, from critics, their peers and their fans.
"Our Band ..." gives a glimpse into the animosity between bandmates, especially
those in the Replacements and the near-legendary catfights between Dinosaur
Jr's Lou Barlow and J Mascis. But it also shows the staying power of
experimental band Sonic Youth, which found success (and retained respect) on
a major label years after years on independents. The book also delves into
the period right before and up to the grunge way of the early '90s', with the
one-hit wonder success of long-time indie trawlers, the Butthole Surfers, as
well as Mudhoney's almost-there-but-not-quite ride on the grunge wave.
Mission of Burma, Big Black and the explosion Steve Albini made in the realm
of music producer, and "twee-rockers" Beat Happening also have their own
chapters in the book. This book will dispel the myths for anyone who missed
the important post-punk bands, for anyone who thought grunge was a
revolutionary music style, and for anyone who thinks that only major label,
charting bands are worth listening to.
Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Our Band Could Be Your Life
Copyright © by Michelle Miller Detwiler, 2002
Reviewed by Michelle Miller Detwiler:
-- And I Don't Want To Live This Life - by Deborah Spungen
-- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - by Dave Eggers
-- England's Dreaming - by Jon Savage
-- I'm With the Band - by Pamela Des Barres
-- Our Band Could Be Your Life - by Michael Azerrad
-- Maus: A Survivor's Tale
- by Art Spiegelman
-- Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung
- by Lester Bangs
-- Healing Digestive Disorders
- by Andrew Gaeddert
-- U2 At the End of the World
- by Bill Flanagan
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