Our band could be your life
Real names'd be proof
Me and Mike Watt played for years
Punk rock changed our lives
“Our band could be your life. Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991” (2002) – translated into Italy by Carlo Bordone for Arcana – is one of the bibles of Anglophone rock music. Michael Azerrad – journalist author of the Nirvana biography (“Come As You Are”, 1993), then editor of Bob Mould's autobiography (“See a Little Light”, 2011) – traces the parables of the seminal bands of the genre, reaching up to the fateful 1991, “the year punk broke”, as Sonic Youth defined it in the famous film of the same name by David Markey, on the ferment of the time, when “Nevermind” (Geffen, 1991) reached the top of the charts around the world.
Over time the text has become a symbol of strictly alternative/indie rock music do-it-yourselfchronicling the independent years of bands that later moved on major (Husker Du, Replacements, Mudhoney, Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.) together with groups faithful to the ethics of self-production and the circuit underground (Black Flag, Minutemen, Minor Threat, Mission of Burma, Beat Happening, Fugazi, Big Black).
The records whose production emerges from the book are masterpieces of the genre: “Damaged” by Black Flag (SST, 1981), “Vs” by Mission Of Burma (Ace of Hearts, 1982), “Zen Arcade” by Husker Du (SST, 1984), “Double Nickels On The Dime” by Minutemen (SST, 1984), “Let It Be” by the Replacements (TwinTone, 1984), “Psychic… Powerless… Another Man's Sac” by the Butthole Surfers (Touch and Go, 1985), “Bad Moon Rising” by Sonic Youth (Homestead, 1985), “Atomizer” by Big Black (Homestead, 1985) – so intransigent as to not be present on Spotify, and therefore in the playlist – “You're Living All Over Me” by Dinosaur Jr. (SST, 1987), “Jamboree” by Beat Happening (K, 1987), “Repeater” by Fugazi (Dischord, 1990).
Proceeding with the story, a constellation of scenes emerges, a mix of genres with mutual influences, a network of labels and fanzines which form the backbone of what Azerrad defines as “the American indie underground”. The playlist we propose follows in the first part the order of the historical-biographical profiles presented by the author through a series of paradigmatic songs for each band, while the second part explores more the underground affinities, the “remote” dialogues, the sonic and conceptual reverberations.
We can only start from Black Flag, from label SST and the band's iconic partnership with artist Raymond Pettibon, brother of guitarist and producer Greg Ginn. As a keystone you will find the melancholy “Indian summer” of the Pacific Northwest which transforms into the incandescent “Celebrated Summer” of the Midwest, to move on to the memorable verses of “History Lesson Pt. 2” chosen by Azerrad to title – and signify – the book and close with “Strangers Die Everyday”, a sort of epitaph of a burning season chosen by Richard Linklater to open the film “Slacker” (1991), manifesto of a generation aligned with dominant values and active in the autonomous production of its own cultural and artistic contents.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
