We Jam Econo (Tim Irwin, 2005)

I needed to watch this film. It opens up with these three guys sitting in a non-descript front lawn in Pedro telling the story of how it all began with the Minutemen: D. Boon, Mike Watt, George Hurley. So Boon's mom, wanting to keep the boys out of trouble, picks up some instruments and tells them they've got to learn to play. At some point they move from Deep Purple and Creedence covers to something unique with funk, punk, rock and country elements all jammed together. These were real guys. Best friends...and at times worst enemies....who just wanted to make music. And the scene that embraced them (and scoffed and spit at them as well) was the California punk scene. So littered throughout this film are interviews by those who they encountered and influenced along the way from Black Flag and The Descendents to Sonic Youth and Slovenly to R.E.M. and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Minutement were the real deal. Real guys who didn't really want to be rock stars. Guys who did not abide by standard record making procedures. This is a nice after school special kind of story about boys who met when the big kid fell out of the tree on the other kid. It's also a story about the punk scene that emerged in the late 70's and early 80's. It's also a tragedy, about a band that loses it's voice tragically just as they reach the pinnacle of any mainstream success. It's about guys who stuck to their guns and stayed real.