(label)
29 September 2014 (released)
29 September 2014
Death From Above 1979 are a mysterious band. One minute they were here out of nowhere, the next they were gone. They received world wide hype and a strong following not from YouTube hits, Facebook followers or number of retweets. No, DFA 1979 did it the old fashioned way. They toured. Hard. Then they burned out as quickly as they came into the world with the band calling a hiatus in 2005.
I, like many others in 2004, loved 'You're a Woman, I'm a Machine' and I was lucky enough to see DFA 1979 in Bristol at the Fleece and Firkin back in '04. Not only were they amazing that night, but Dev Hines kicked me in the head when stage diving. But that's unrelated. What I didn't get was, what happened? Why did they break up so soon after such a successful album? How long do we wait until they come back?
That final question was answered earlier this year with the release of 'The Physical World' and after 10 long years, they were back with a new release. Still many questions were unanswered and that's why I was more than happy to watch this documentary.
The film did a really good job of humanising a band that are very different to the barrage of fuzzy bass, searing vocals and crashing drums that defines DFA 1979. You get to see a different side to them and an insight into how new bands with big hype can get used by record companies. It also shows you how much they both care about the comeback being for the right reasons: to make great music and to give the best live performances. It would have been easy to come back just for the money.
As a music lover, I do really like music documentaries to get an idea of life is really like behind the scenes and 'Life After Death From Above' delivered that. It gave a real incite into how they began and what 2004 was like for them.
As a DFA 1979 fan I enjoyed this film. My questions were answered and I got to see what really happened. From a pure entertainment point of view it was a bit tame. This is no Some Kind of Monster where these guys are out of control and hate each other. It was a story that has been seen time and time again in the music industry. Too much touring + too much drinking = dysfunction.
Great for fans of the band, but maybe not worth your time if you're looking for a gripping story of rock and roll excess.
