2004-10-11 - 9:13 a.m. Saw Dig! last night. However unfair, I can't help but compare it to the other big music doc from this summer. If the earnestness of the members of Metallica (and their therapist) made for some unintentional humor during Some Kind of Monster, it also provided moments of poignancy and drama. The band's power, influence, and talent are evident, and displayed especially well towards the end, and one senses that some kind of resolution and growth have happened, at least for now. Conversely, in Dig, the perpetual brattiness, nonstop cranky id-driven antics of Brian Jonestown Massacre, and, to a lesser and more photogenic extent, the Dandy Warhols, makes ya just wanna slap everybody. We see heroin- and ego-fueled fistfights, ridiculous rivalries, band members quitting mid-tour, lots of drugged-up on-camera droning, not much fun being had, and very occasionally, some pretty good stage and studio footage of both bands' Velvets-y, Stones-y music. But not enough, by a long shot, to suggest why either of these bands deserve our attention or sympathy. The film hints that BJM's handsome, lost, ever-enraged leader Anton Newcomb (whose craziness can be gauged by how unruly his sideburns are on any given day) is the more talented musician even as DW's equally video-friendly Courtney Taylor is the success story because he played the game better and landed a deal with Capitol. But it's hard to wring a moral out of either band's story--a major label record deal these days is a fluke, and no guarantee of sustained success, and it's just as likely that BJM could have gotten a great deal despite Anton's endless problems. To me the truer story is that rock music, with its stupid mythos of Dionysian revolt, is the great enabler, allowing talented and not-so-talented people to embrace the worst apsects of themselves while their art withers in the back seat. Note to self: don't do that! But first, look at these fellers thoughts? (2 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact