Dig!

[thatguy]

I watched this on Kanopy...it reminds me a bit of the Sex Pistols doc Greatest Rock and Roll Swindle, but in that the intention is to be awful and become successful because of that, or in spite of that. Here, they are genuinely trying, but are their own worst enemies...

The film documents Brian Jonestown Massacre and singer Anton as they fail to become successful. There's quite a lot about the Dandy Warhols because the band members were friends initially and the DWs really liked BJM and thought Anton was a genius. BJM is depicted as swirling around the bowl constantly, while the DWs find success...

I find that funny as I am not familiar with any DWs. I watched this because I know the BJM song "Not if you were the last dandy on earth" from the Jarmusch film Broken Flower's which had such a great soundtrack, I bought the album the next day...Also, BJM does the opening theme to "Boardwalk Empire". There's no mention of that theme in the doc, so it must have occurred after it was released in 2004.

Anton apparently has massive mental issues...either manic or bi-polar. Most of the film is about him self-sabotaging any opportunities that come their way. He's constantly speaking in "manifesto voice". He often gets in fights with band mates, even on stage. He seems like an absolute asshole to work with...but he does have some musical genius. He's just an f'd up person which they underscore in the part where they talk to his parents...

Back to the DW / BJM split...Anton and the singer from the DWs are good friends, but Anton is anti-commercial and pisses on every success the DWs have. The DWs don't seem to make great decisions either...the story behind the "Last dandy" BJM song is that the DWs have a song "Not if you were the last junkie on earth". At this time, the BJM members were all living in one house that they recorded in. They had a big house party...BIG...not unusual for them. The DWs decided it would be cool to do a promo photo shoot at the BJM house the next day, first thing in the morning, w/o warning or notifying the BJM folks. They just showed up and started taking band pictures over all the debauchery and damage, trying to be "cool".

Anton was pissed and wrote a scathing song "Not if you were the last dandy on earth" which is a pretty good song actually...

Anyway, Anton continues to self-destruct. Most of the band quits or is fired. Lots of fights on stage, abrupt ending of shows, etc...

While the DWs continue to find success.

Other things I learned:
I know a bunch of DW songs...I had no idea.

the DW's guitarist, Peter Holmstrom looks a heckavalot like Julio Torres




I almost went to a BJM show last fall (or maybe it was this spring), not knowing any of this history. I wonder who is in the band...what they play 20 years later, and if they ever achieved any success, and if Anton ever got his mental illness under control?

Only recommended if you are interested in music docs.

--tg

[Greg]

Bohemian Like you is my favorite DW song.