FEATURE: Our Band Could Be Your Life

"Our band could be your life, real names be proof,

me and Mike Watt played for years, punk rock changed our lives.

We learned punk rock in Hollywood, drove up from Pedro,

we were fucking corndogs, we'd go drink and pogo.

Mr. narrator, this is Bob Dylan to me,

my story could be his songs, I'm his soldier child.

Our band is scientist rock, but I was E. Bloom and Richard Hell,

Joe Strummer, and John Doe, me and Mike Watt playing guitar."

- The Minutemen - 'History Lesson Part II' (Double Nickels On The Dime - SST, 1984)

This piece is inspired by 'Our Band Could Be Your Life', a collection of scenes from the American Indie Underground between the years 1981-1991, written by Michael Azerrad.

An introduction to the American Indie Underground

For all the the revolutionary shifts and uphauls in the sonic nature of music through the 1960s and 70s, one troubling factor remained in music; it was far from an egalitarian game. Celebrated musicians from Hendrix to Bowie were distant figures, removed from the general public. They were spectres hidden in the static of a television screen or the crackles between the grooves in vinyl. For the lucky few who saw them in the flesh, the dinosaurs of Rock were elevated and protected on stages, raised far above those attempting to gain insight into their heroes' mystique, performing in a haze of smoke and mirrors, coloured by stagelights, held aloft like no other mortal.

As clichéd a sentiment as it is, Punk Rock was the changing factor in this. What The Ramones, The Clash, and to a lesser extent, The Sex Pistols taught the world is that anyone with a head full of ideas and at best a very basic musical knowledge could and should express themselves. If the great Rock and Roll swindle was truly achieved then it was more of a 'Robin Hood' crime, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, the democratisation of modern music had arrived.

With the message of rebellion and DIY attitude being sent out across the USA, small pockets of musical resistance began to trickle to the surface of small towns everywhere. Inspired by the Punk Rock ideals being covertly displayed to them, godfathers of a fresh brand of Indie guitar music such as Black Flag (pictured above) and The Minutemen began touring everywhere, spreading the word and making lasting impressions and trusted connections wherever they dared to venture.

It was once said that although The Velvet Underground didn't sell many records, those few who did hear them were inspired to start their own band. The same can easily be said of that small group of people who saw seminal live acts such as Mission Of Burma and Minor Threat (pictured below) during these nascent years of Underground Rock. Small scenes began developing across the US like pockets of energy ready to explode, or implode, at the drop of a hat.

Hardcore and the Straight Edge movement came to fruition in Washington DC courtesy of The Teen Idles, The Untouchables and the newly-established Dischord Records. Simultaneously a less sober Hardcore scene developed in California due in no small part to the trailblazers of the scene, Black Flag. Numerous new brands of Noise and No Wave came out of the shadows of metropolitan New York; Glenn Branca, Lydia Lunch and the constantly evolving Sonic Youth (SY guitarist Thurston Moore is pictured below) being of high importance to this.

Even the smallest cities and towns were producing their share of non-mainstream heroes; Amherst, Massachusetts being home to the blissed-out slacker guitar of Dinosaur Jr, the Twin Cities of Minnesota giving the world The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, and in Texas, the heat of the southern sun (along with some very potent acid) was frying the brains and the music of the Butthole Surfers.

Meanwhile, isolated from a lot of the musical developments occurring elsewhere, a small group of friends and peers were revolutionising music in the Northwestern city of Seattle. A strange blend of the aggressive Punk of Black Flag and the sludgy Metal of Black Sabbath was being created by pioneers such as Green River and Soundgarden, whilst local Garage and Punk bands from Mudhoney to the Wipers created their own unique sounds . This was all being covered by Bruce Pavitt in his Sub Pop column (later he formed a label of the same name...). The seeds of the Grunge explosion had been planted and somewhere in sleepy Aberdeen, Washington, Kurt Cobain was taking notes.

As the intricate network of scenes and zines, labels and college radio stations went from strength to strength, the barriers between independent music and the big money game of the major labels were being torn down. The question that resonates to this day is: Was it worth it?

The Alternative boom of the early 90s simply could never be sustained. Differences in ideals between labels and musicians, along with the age old debate of commerciality versus principles saw to that. What was successful however was the toppling of peoples' pre-conceived views regarding independent music. Whilst many did admittedly see this new brand of guitar music as a fad, some had their eyes opened to the rich wealth of challenging and unique sounds operating just beneath the corporate radar.

(Above is Sonic Youth's classic 'Teenage Riot' from their 1988 LP Daydream Nation.)

 Furthermore, it taught people that anyone could do it, these artists suddenly achieving at least moderate success were average people who had it not been for their pluck would've been working 9 to 5 jobs for minimum wage.

 No Rock music has made such a difference to the world since, and so, in honour of the last time Indie guitar music truly mattered, expect a new recommended record or artist everyday on this page for a whole fortnight, coming soon...

(Above is a live version of the Pixies' 'Debaser' taken from their 1989 LP Doolittle.)

 N.B. A resumption to the usual conflict-mongering and opinionated content will resume shortly, topics so vital as 'They dress like us but they don't share our cultural ideals', 'Does American Apparel take the majority of their inspiration stylistically from Harvey Milk and San Francisco in the 70s?' and 'Why I don't agree with your neo-moderate Calvinist criticism of Dostoyevsky' will be returned to soon enough.