August 26, 2005
Present at the Creation of a Memorably Loud, Thrashing Sound
By NED MARTEL
The New York Times
When a chunky guitar player called D. Boon first jammed in his mom's house with his teenage buddy Mike Watt, the neighbors complained. "Well, I know where my son is," the mom retorted. The noise made by these two Angelenos, from San Pedro, led to a brief but intense burst of fame in the area's early punk scene, and a tribute rockumentary, "We Jam Econo," keeps studiously to the sweaty, messy ethos of their best-known band, the Minutemen.
Their legacy is lovingly and erratically encapsulated by the director Tim Irwin, relying on archival film of Minutemen concerts in places like the 9:30 Club in Washington. The crowds are in a frenzy and, we are told, the spitting from the mosh pit, presumably a form of praise, led to many colds for the frontmen.
Mostly, these shots are from a fixed position, with a little zooming in and out on D. Boon's improbable bounces across the stage. (Think of a heavier, pogoing Frank Black of the Pixies.) Even though the Minutemen were known for long sets of short, thrashing songs, the director lets the old scenes run for long reverential stretches, missing the opportunity for some unusual editing.
When it comes to interviewing there-at-the-creation insiders, Mr. Irwin can boast many respectable gets, including the rockers Thurston Moore, Ian MacKaye and John Doe. (Even the spectral artist Raymond Pettibon allows a sit-down in his scrappy atelier.)
Most moving of all are the monologues of Mike Watt himself, who has much wisdom to impart to any musicians graduating from high school 30 years after he did. (They may know his band's cacophonous blare from the theme music of "Jackass.") His main point: do it yourself, because the distance between garage rehearsals and packed arenas is shorter than you think.
Mr. Watt compares today's wider access to guitars to the breakthrough when clay skateboard wheels gave way to the durable, bouncy plastic kind. "We were more kept in our place," he says. "Nowadays you're more kept in your place by your mind, more by the herd mentality than by actually having the material and wherewithal to do things."
The film is far from aphoristic, and Mr. Irwin avoids any maudlin impulse that D. Boon's death in a 1985 car crash might have dictated. Mr. Watt compellingly recalls details of road trips and passionate arguments he shared with his bandmate, and a result is a nostalgic portrait of a prototypical and productive male friendship. Two guys sounded out the chords to "Smoke on the Water" and kept at it for a decade of hard work and innovation. The spiky documentary in their honor keeps alive the echoes of their slapdash, Smithsonian-worthy sound.
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen
Opens today in Manhattan.
Directed by Tim Irwin; produced by Keith Schieron; released by Rocket Fuel Films. At the Anthology Film Archives, 32-34 Second Avenue, at Second Street, East Village. Running time: 85 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: D. Boon, George Hurley, Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Ian MacKaye, John Doe and Raymond Pettibon.
