FILM REVIEW: She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column

It's always a treat when an obscure but important band gets the feature-length music doc treatment instead of some overexposed, already-iconic rock star, and Toronto post-punk outfit Fifth Column certainly fit the bill as underappreciated trailblazers, having had a huge impact on the direction of queercore, riot grrrl and other scenes, only to end up more or less overlooked. Giving them some welcome big-screen recognition is Kevin Hegge's entertaining documentary portrait, She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column, which makes a compelling case for why their music needs more reevaluation and attention, even if the film itself could stand to dig a little bit deeper.

Formed at the dawn of the 1980s, the arty, all-female Fifth Column, along with a loose collective of like-minded musicians, experimental filmmakers and zine publishers, took its inspiration from their utter alienation from mainstream culture, especially its strict sexual norms and the sense of endless conflict it fostered; even their name comes from military terminology for a group of agents who secretively destabilize an entrenched regime. Hegge does a good job of coherently unpacking their many complaints with their patriarchal North American surroundings, as well as the battles between band members themselves, whose dramatic quarrels over differing artistic visions actually proved good for their creativity.

The soundtrack is what really sells She Said Boom, but the documentary is visually engaging as well, kinetically splicing together live footage, clips from film projects and original interviews, memorably with founding member G.B. Jones and director Bruce La Bruce, a frequent collaborator. The film does have flaws, mainly a distinct lack of context, particularly surrounding their time with K Records and their place in the broader 1980s underground, which makes it seem deceptively as if the band's adventures were unfolding in a bubble, and at a mere 64 minutes, there's certainly room for more background. Still, while not that thorough, it's an enticing introduction

ALBUM REVIEW: Various Artists - Lest We Forget - Our Night to Remember

Conceived as a way to pay tribute to the many dearly departed Milwaukee artists who've left an impact on the city's music scene, and in some cases on listeners around the world, last year's Lest We Forget concert was truly a one-of-a-kind event, reuniting over a dozen long out of commission local punk and alternative bands from the late 70s and early 80s, many of whom hadn't played together in decades. With such a unique, emotionally charged event, documentation is a must, and now some of the night's best performances have been collected on one jam-packed compilation.

The disc, which between its 22 songs clocks in at a hefty 75 minutes, presents a pretty comprehensive picture of the show, and, by extension, of the diverse sounds that found a home here during that era, from the fiery, proletarian hardcore of Sacred Order to the upbeat rockabilly of the Rock-A-Dials and the sparse new wave of St. Bernard. Though stylistically eclectic, all the music here is of a consistently high caliber, but that being said, the contributions from Milwaukee's trailblazing favorite sons Die Kreuzen, namely lively versions of "All White" and "Number Three", are a cut above. 

As good as it is, there are a few puzzling flaws, which mostly have to do with the tracklist; Sacred Order have twice as many songs as anybody else, including the thrashy novelty "Three Testes", which could have easily been left on the cutting room floor, and the Black Holes are just plain absent, but a little unevenness here and there is a minor complaint. Overall, it's a superbly recorded souvenir for those who were in attendance, a nice consolation prize for those couldn't make it and, most importantly, a lasting memorial to those no longer with us.

FILM REVIEW: Indie Game: The Movie

Like it or not, technology has a way of liberating culture, but video games, a relatively young media, have had to wait their turn just like music or film before them. There was a time where making a movie or releasing an album seemed beyond the reach of the ordinary Joe, but, over time, advancements in electronics have given that power to just about anyone; video games are no different, but their complexity makes going DIY a bit harder than writing a song or pointing a video camera. Even though inspired amateur programmers have had the technological means to make their own games for some time now, it's only in the past few years that Internet connected consoles have created a market for games produced outside the studio system and proven downloadable content (DLC) to be one of the fast growing segment of the industry. For visionary independents, that means a potential goldmine, but the risks, financial and psychological are just as great.

Directed by Canadian filmmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, Indie Game: The Movie profiles four intrepid indie creators at varying stages of guiding a game to its release date; there's Phil Fish, the perfectionist programmer behind the continually delayed Fez, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, the duo making last minute improvements to their irreverent Super Meat Boy before its surprise deadline, and Jonathan Blow, who released his innovative Braid to rave reviews and excellent sales, but wonders if he really got what he wanted. There are really two sides to each of their stories, the creative and the commercial. Each and every one of them is clearly pouring their heart and soul into their projects, speaking in lofty artistic terms about pushing the boundaries and needing to communicate and express themselves in their work, a luxury not afforded the often hundreds of programmers working on a major release like a Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty, but all of them are also desperately hoping for a huge payday, not just to make up for all the sleepless nights, but to take care of some rather pressing financial needs.

There's another common thread connecting all of these men too: all of them speak at one point or another about the depression and isolation their chosen career path has brought them, staring at bits of code in a darkened rooms like tortured artists (whether or not they are, in fact artists is a debate to unwieldy to get into here). Still, though the prospect of their creation being a flop or, worse, not coming out at all and leaving them deep in debt is a daunting one, the passion with which they talk about their craft suggests none of them would ever even consider doing anything else. That's where Indie Game: The Movie becomes more than just a doc about technological or cultural trends, or even about video games, it becomes about people in obsessive pursuit of a creative and personal ideal. Even if you're not a gamer yourself, you'll probably find yourself rooting for them, sharing in their triumphs and failures, not simply because their underdogs, but because for them, these aren't just games, their whole lives are on the line. 

CONCERT REVIEW: Gwar (The Rave, Milwaukee)

Everyone's favorite band of intergalactic barbarians invades the Rave for a night of decapitations and degradation.

Read my full review here.

ALBUM REVIEW: Dan Deacon - America

Since his 2007 breakthrough Spiderman of the Rings, Dan Deacon's star has been steadily on the rise, and while there're plenty of reasons to be excited about that, one of the biggest is just how unlikely it is. It takes a certain amount of luck and serendipity for anyone making challenging, original music to crossover and connect with a wider audience, but Deacon seems to pack enough complicated ideas (and just plain old weirdness) into his releases to scare off anyone whose tastes skew toward the conventional, and yet even those who have little use for a word like "minimalism" seem to latch enthusiastically onto his work.

And there's an easy explanation for that. As much as Deacon's music reflects his master's degree in electro-acoustic and computer composition, it's also exuberant, infectious and just plain old fun, and both sides of that dichotomy are in full effect on his latest, America. It's one of his most assured and confident efforts to date, finding an expressive and endlessly listenable middle ground between the freaked-out, Day-Glo madness of SOTR and its more serious, thoughtful 2009 follow up Bromst, effortlessly synthesizing those elements that make his music worthy of contemplation and those that make it apt for going nuts to.

Deacon conceived of the project, which, as the title suggests, examines the land of the free and the home of the brave, after an eye-opening trip abroad forced him to come to terms with the national identity he'd long distanced himself from. Whether those themes successfully come through the speakers in any concrete way is a matter for debate, one that hinges on your ability to follow the lyrics through layer upon layer of sound, but in a more abstract way, America encapsulates many of the qualities that define its namesake; which is to say that it's at once majestic and abrasive, straightforward and unwieldy, eccentric and wholly worth exploring.

FEATURE: How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the 2012 Milwaukee Noise Fest

In advance of the jam-packed three-day festival, starting tomorrow night at the Borg Ward, I run down a few things you may want to keep in mind if you're new to noise.

Read the full piece here.