mileshoyle Reviews

Pick It Up!: Ska in the '90s (2019)

Great documentary on 3rd-wave ska!

[10/10 · 2 May 2020]

This was a super interesting film & really managed to cover so much ground about the genre too: while it is about the 3rd-wave of ska-- it does a great job of both defining ska, while also quickly going over the origin of ska (especially with hitting on the fact that ska actually came before reggae) and summarizes the first movements: first wave (with quick mentions of Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, etc.) & the two tone movement (the Specials, the Selecter, Madness, etc.) and then dives rather deeply into the 90's//3rd-wave of ska!

It was interesting that a notable figure within the genre narrates the film as well (Tim Armstrong-- founder of Hellcats Records, also member of Rancid, Operation Ivy, & other groups that also relate to the film). The film does a particularly great job of not only featuring bigger bands of the genre (Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, Less Than Jake, the Interrupters, No Doubt-- whose first record//earlier years were spent as a ska group briefly-- and many others) but also features groups a bit more underground (Mephiskapheles, Suicide Machines, MU330, the O.C. Supertones, etc.) to give a very well rounded perspective from bands of different styles/tastes within the genre.

The film is very well loaded with excellent live footage and interviews-- not only do the interviews consist of the groups themselves, but also interviewed are prmoters, radio DJ, journalist/writers, too.

All in all, this film is really fun-- highly informative, and excellently covers the genre in a way that rather you are new to the music or a die-hard long time fan-- there will be something in it for you to enjoy no matter what!

Population: 1 (1986)

Worth a watch if your curious about it/interested in it through the Screamers...

[6/10 · 24 February 2016]

I'm a huge music connoisseur/music enthusiast of all types of music and genres-- especially punk/no wave stuff--- hence how I found out about this film because of Tomata Du Plenty/his involvement in the L.A. punk scene/him being the vocalist for somewhat-rare and "unrecorded" band the Screamers, who quite possibly are one of the earliest synth-punk outfits.

There is one other review on here already for this-- I'd say he got the story part right/very accurate description and IMDb has a very on-point/accurate description of the plot as well--- so I'm just gonna' touch on the factors I feel weren't quite hit on yet: 1. The story is amusing and different-- it's this very odd apocalyptic musical based in punk & no wave (the music isn't a million miles away from the Screamers, but it's definitely not the same either)-- but in my opinion, the film does feel extremely dated (which isn't necessarily bad, but that depends on your taste--- it's dated like the way the movie Weird Science is dated--- it screams hey this is the 1980's, so if you can deal with that--- then this is not a deal breaker).

2. The music itself--- it's surprisingly pretty cool that the music really did click well with the format of being a musical/not your typical musical-kinda music (big band swing, Broadway sorta stuff)-- it actually pulls through very well in that aspect. However, it simply doesn't touch the Screamers material either (which is what drew me towards wanting to see the film, and I imagine what would cause most people to ever find out about it now as it was never well-known to begin with, and the Screamers have slightly re-surfaced in various interviews (such as one with Jello Biafra who stated that they were the, "perhaps best unrecorded band ever")-- though one should note, they never had a proper studio recording, bootlegs/demo recordings that are clear enough exist/hence how I or anyone else interested in this ever heard the Screamers to be further intrigued into this movie-- books like, "We've Got the Neutron Bomb" and other books on L.A. Punk and bands from that period/in L.A. mention them, etc.

3. It's not a mind-blower-- but it's definitely an interesting art-film project-- a neat collaboration of original music and film-- I can only imagine in the 1980's how difficult an off-the-wall punk-sorta musical of this nature would've been to pull off/it must be very low-budget, I don't imagine people we're lining up to help the guy-- so sure albeit some parts are cheesy and dated, you gotta' give the guy credit for being truly original and pulling off a project like this.

Overall, if your into L.A. punk and interested in the Screamers music-- this is neat little part of that chapter and worth watching. If your not into L.A. punk/the Screamers--- and if your not into very sorta avant-garde obscure musicals either-- then I'm guessing it might not be for you. I give it 5 or 6 out of 10 stars.